Pakistan spinners strike back to limit South Africa to 216/6 at Stumps on Day 2

[IAJ]

Abrar should have played here

 

[IAJ]

Lucky break for De Zorzi. He looks terrible against spin. Don't expect him to last long..

Didn't see the match, but saw the scorecard 5 minutes ago, De Zorzi is on 81*

 

[jnaveen1980]

Seems like a collapse 4 wickets for 42 runs. Can SA add another 100 runs from here? I think batting last will be near impossible.

 

[kron]

Abrar should have played here

Should have been picked for his celebration style alone

Sports need some character cmon

 

[The Bald Eagle]

Noman Ali shared following thoughts in a presser today:

Team Strategy and Goals
* "Our target was 350 plus and I think we achieved it."
* "I think the way Agha and Rizwan finished and the way Shahan and Imam bowled, we set a very good total."
* "The main thing is to take as much lead as possible, which will benefit us in the third inning, so that we can set a good target in the fourth inning."
* "We will try to take out as few runs as possible. And the more lead we take, I think our target is that if we take 100 plus lead, then it will benefit us in our third inning."
* "The simple goal was not to get too excited and to bowl in our area. And we tried to do that."
* "See, if you ask me, our goal was the same, which our coaches, Mr. Abdur Rahman and I have talked to them. We have been working with them for the last three to four months."

Pitch and Bowling Conditions
* "The ball was staying low more than the first day of the second day."
* "The conditions are in front of you. The conditions are on the slow side."
* "I feel that it will be a low bounce in the future."
* "In the future, the batsman may have difficulties in the third and fourth inning."

Game Progress and Partnerships
* "A very good partnership went from their side, because of which they played well. But in the end, if we look at the last session, we took wickets and took six outs."
* "If I play out, then support Sajid. So let's go together and try to do bowling with the partnership."
* "He has also played very well. Some of his reviews have been a little ahead and behind, but the effort is that if he plays out, he should support him."

On-field Incident (Wicket Conversation)
* "It was not much, it was just a little out. One of our players said something, so he took it on himself, although he did not say it."
* "I have said before that the effort is to take them out as little as possible."

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

Didn't see the match, but saw the scorecard 5 minutes ago, De Zorzi is on 81*

He has been very lucky

 

[JibranAnsari]

You are way off.

He was player of tournament twice in consecutive QEAs and primarily due to his bowling.

When was that? What were his bowling performances?

 

[TheSultan]

Haha despite this, he is still the best quick bowler pakistan has.

Bro, we cannot put “Abbas” and “quick” together in any sentence (apart from this one!).

If Abbas ever plays again, it should be on a green seamer when we are picking 4 seamers. We need to move on from Sub-120k bowlers leading our attack. It’s embarassing

 

[Aqib_mustafa]

Well @Aqib_mustafa another Nomi 5 fer coming up either today or tmr

Bro noman is the one who brought us back in the game sajid was very disappointing at one stage i thought south africa will get the lead easily really happy with noman bowling it was master class on a pitch which wasn't a rank turner.

 

[Nasty Naz]

Good test match so far and I think this is the type of pitch Pakistan should aim to consistently build. It's not super to bat on when you arrive to the crease but get through the difficult period and you can certainly make some runs on it.

Big day tomorrow and hopefully Pakistan starts with at least a 50 runs lead.

 

[RidiculousMan]

He has been very lucky

To put it mildly.

Had he opened a position in Stocks or Crypto today. He would be in the green

 

[Aqib_mustafa]

To put it mildly.

Had he opened a position in Stocks or Crypto today. He would be in the green

Bro what's your take on the pitch and is pakistan now in good position to win it even 200 runs can be challenging in fourth innings?

 

[Aqib_mustafa]

Good test match so far and I think this is the type of pitch Pakistan should aim to consistently build. It's not super to bat on when you arrive to the crease but get through the difficult period and you can certainly make some runs on it.

Big day tomorrow and hopefully Pakistan starts with at least a 50 runs lead.

Bro don't you think pakistan played too many fast bowlers i mean 2 are playing on this pitch wasn't abrar a better option 3 spinners or was it right to balance the attack?

 

[Nikhil_cric]

Only once has a team scored more than what PAK , eventually, got in the first innings and lost at Gaddafi.

Anything over 250 won't be chased in the 4th innings.

PAK in the driver's seat.

 

[mominsaigol]

Only once has a team scored more than what PAK , eventually, got in the first innings and lost at Gaddafi.

Anything over 250 won't be chased in the 4th innings.

PAK in the driver's seat.

Anyway zorzi performed. Prediction 2 complete.

South Africa seems to be the only team immune to my predictions for some reason.

They were immune during WTC as well. Bery strange phenomenon.

Maybe their past icc curses of choking counter the jinx and nullify it. Only god knows.

 

[Nasty Naz]

Bro don't you think pakistan played too many fast bowlers i mean 2 are playing on this pitch wasn't abrar a better option 3 spinners or was it right to balance the attack?

Everyone was crying here for two pacers. Probably not ideal but there's still a chance for pacers to come into if the pitch breaks up a bit more and it starts reversing.

They should have gone with 3 spinners though in case one has an off-day and Sajid happens to be having one of those matches. Still, Pakistan firmly in the driver seat and I think even a target of 200 would be difficult on this pitch. Hopefully though, Pakistan get a lead of 50 or so runs and score around 200+ and they should be able to comfortably win.

 

[shamaan]

Pointless playing Shaheen on these kind of pitches.

 

[Savak]

Pakistan are playing an extra batter for nothing, you should have 5 reliable bowling options in a test match and with the rest being part time options.

I would have dropped Abdullah and picked a pace bowling all rounder in his place and would have dropped Hassan Ali and picked Abrar on this wicket. This way you have 3 full time spinners and two pacers in your attack

 

[Kianig89]

Pakistan Néed to bundle them with a sizeable lead like 120 runs , then bat sensibly for 70-80 overs to set a tgt of 320ish. Job not done yet

 

[Aqib_mustafa]

Pakistan Néed to bundle them with a sizeable lead like 120 runs , then bat sensibly for 70-80 overs to set a tgt of 320ish. Job not done yet

Even 200 would be a match winning total on this track now tbh with you

 

[jnaveen1980]

Saw the highlights. i can't get over this line from Waqar

"You give room you gotta pay"

 

[Obaidd]

Fast bowling all-rounder instead of second pacer should have played. Second pacer or third spinner is not going to bowl much anyway so adding batting depth instead would have been a sound strategy.

 

[jnaveen1980]

Seems like SA threw away their wickets looking at highlights.

 

[Usman Chadda]

Seems like SA threw away their wickets looking at highlights.

Yes and Pakistan batsmen were bowled out by world class spin

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

Seems like SA threw away their wickets looking at highlights.

I wouldn't say that. Only Brevis was a very soft dismissal, rest was down to good bowling. There were a number of other close calls too that were just pitching outside the line.

Most South African batsmen struggled to play spin well on the front foot and that was their undoing.

 

[jnaveen1980]

I wouldn't say that. Only Brevis was a very soft dismissal, rest was down to good bowling. There were a number of other close calls too that were just pitching outside the line.

Most South African batsmen struggled to play spin well on the front foot and that was their undoing.

Agha one was not a great delivery. He tried something funky there. Mulder went for a drive. Ya.. few guys don't know how to play spin. Got spooked.