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Pakistan vs Sri Lanka: The Asad Shafiq & Sarfaraz Ahmed partnership in the 2nd Test

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Brilliant & gutsy batting by Asad Shafiq & Sarfaraz Ahmed. Record 6th wicket partnership against Sri Lanka of 146 runs <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cricket</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PakvSL?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#PakvSL</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) <a href="https://twitter.com/Saj_PakPassion/status/917443319323660290?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 9, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Well played but job only half done... IA boys will take us home tomorrow and we won't even need the services of Yasir, Wahab, Amir or God forbid Abbas.
 
Terrific partnership but is it one to just solidify their places in the side or to actually get the team over the line? Yet to be seen. Let's see.
 
Terrific partnership but is it one to just solidify their places in the side or to actually get the team over the line? Yet to be seen. Let's see.

The captain who just won Champions Trophy needs to solidify his place? Is this for real?
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Positive intent from Asad & Sarfaraz making the difference:<br>First 32.5 overs = 52 runs<br>Next 40.1 overs = 146 runs<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PAKvSL?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#PAKvSL</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cricket</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) <a href="https://twitter.com/Saj_PakPassion/status/917446907886227461?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 9, 2017</a></blockquote>
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I stand corrected. I did not expect Sarfraz to deliver with the bat today. Very good fightback so far. If only the top order had batted with 10% of the intent shown by this pair, the game would be in the bag for Pakistan by now.

As it is, with the amount of runs still left, one or 2 wickets and SL have a path and chance to 2-0. Let's see what happens.
 
One thing about pak... they always play to the situation... when they need 136, they get out for 100... when then need 300 they will get out for 250... When they need 490 they get out for 450
 
AAli98

Pak have totally surprised me, Herath is showing his age looked very tired, was very ineffective today. If pak lose tomorrow i will eat my hat..

Fantastic by Shafiq and Sarfraz...
 
IndYeah

Sri Lanka on the back foot, the game has turned and pak are favorites.


Which team is "favorite" is subjective anyway. Both teams' chances are alive at this point. My gut tells me that Pak might lose a wicket or 2 in the 1st hour or so tomorrow. And then that's all she wrote. If Pak get through the first hour, while maintaining some level of momentum with their run scoring, than the game is theirs. If you ask me to pick who's more likely to win, I'd still say SL at this point.
 
Great partnership, it shows what a positive approach can do but alas i Still fancy a SL win by 60-70 runs.
 
Karachi boyz are winning for Pakistan again... Need Fawad Alam to replace Babar Azam in test.
 
Which team is "favorite" is subjective anyway. Both teams' chances are alive at this point. My gut tells me that Pak might lose a wicket or 2 in the 1st hour or so tomorrow. And then that's all she wrote. If Pak get through the first hour, while maintaining some level of momentum with their run scoring, than the game is theirs. If you ask me to pick who's more likely to win, I'd still say SL at this point.

The wicket hasnt done much, SL bowlers looked really dejected in the long final session today, what makes you think that they will lose early wickets tomorrow, there was no threat from their bowlers in the last session. My gut feeling , Pak should steam roll from here.
 
The wicket hasnt done much, SL bowlers looked really dejected in the long final session today, what makes you think that they will lose early wickets tomorrow, there was no threat from their bowlers in the last session. My gut feeling , Pak should steam roll from here.

What spitting demons on the wicket made the first 5 Pak wickets fall for 50 runs? The momentum shifted in that session and the Lankans were tired. Tomorrow's a new day, new session. Pakistan have lost 2 too many wickets to make this a slam dunk. All it will take is one good ball to bring the bowlers to the crease. This is test cricket, not book cricket.

That being said, Pakistan have an excellent chance to win. They had an even better chance to win when they started this innings. But that's why they play the damn game. You have to do it, to get it done.
 
If sarfraz does it then it will be second best inning by a Pakistani wk after kamran akmal in 2006 test......
 
Flawed thinking.

Its Pakistan boys winning it for Pakistan again.

Nothing wrong with having a bit of city pride. Otherwise people say Karachiites don't own Karachi the same way Lahoris own Lahore.

Also, it's amazing what a little bit of positive intent can do. Pakistan should've won both tests comfortably if they had batted with a little more intent rather than just looking to survive.
 
Reminds me of the Galle Test. Gave up all hope on that one also.
 
In this match Shafiq is playing spin better than Sarfraz. Sarfraz is playing cautiously while Shafiq is playing without any fear.
 
Shafiq has impressed but need more consistency from him. He is a once a series player but I suppose still deserves to be in the side because he's the only one in the middle order who's actually got a gr8 score on this tour so far along with haris 76. Babar with yet another failure and I'm afraid he's on the verge of getting dropped. I would give him a chance to bat at 4 and keep him there rather than pushing him up and down. Shan masood has been disgraceful and so I really hope he gets dropped and azhar goes up 1 to open.
Hoping for this line-up on the England tour
Azhar
Sami
Haris
Babar (let him bat at 4)
Asad (got runs at 5)
Usman
Sarfraz
Amir/abbas
Yasir
Wahab/young fast bowler
Hasan
 
Wow. They even surprised me with this one. I was dreaming of a Haris-Babar rescue act but they betrayed us.

Sarfaraz, on the other hand, dhoka nahi dey ga.
 
If sarfraz does it then it will be second best inning by a Pakistani wk after kamran akmal in 2006 test......

I hope this is a sarcastic comment. If Sarfaraz wins this for us and gets a century it will far surpass Kami's good innings which has the honour of being by far the most over rated innings by a Pakistan batsman of all time. In any format.
 
Only if top order have made only a few singles at least we might have won the game by now... but our wishes about better strike rotation will remain wishes :(
 
Well played to both however match winning knock or not Shafiq should still be dropped - it shouldn't take the team to be 52/5 with your place in the side hanging by a thread to play your natural game.

Watch him revert back to his timid self and also to the poster who said it's Shafiq who's playing the spinners better taking the attack to them whereas Sarfraz is batting defensively has obviously not watched the game and knows little of his mindset.

Sarfraz came out attacking while Shafiq was getting his eye in and batting slow to get off the rocks. The same occurence happened when Amir was with him, he was ducking the strike because he didn't want to face Starc, Hazlewood and Bird in that Brisbane test. He can't handle responsibility or take the mantle of this batting line up. He relies heavily on the batting support to impost impact in order to see the field push back
 
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Well played to both however match winning knock or not Shafiq should still be dropped - it shouldn't take the team to be 52/5 with your place in the side hanging by a thread to play your natural game.

Watch him revert back to his timid self and also to the poster who said it's Shafiq who's playing the spinners better taking the attack to them whereas Sarfraz is batting defensively has obviously not watched the game and knows little of his mindset.

Sarfraz came out attacking while Shafiq was getting his eye in and batting slow to get off the rocks. The same occurence happened when Amir was with him, he was ducking the strike because he didn't want to face Starc, Hazlewood and Bird in that Brisbane test. He can't handle responsibility or take the mantle of this batting line up. He relies heavily on the batting support to impost impact in order to see the field push back

Bhai, the strike rate for the two says otherwise. But I agree with the rest of your post.
 
I know all of us (including me) were asking for Harry to be moved up to 3 or 4... but a case could be made that he played spectacularly at 6 and should be kept there only. The lack of form of Babar and Asad forced the move for Harry to be pushed up.

It's unfortunate that it is just a 2 match series. If it were a three match, I would have gone with this line up for a third test..

Azhar
Sami
Babar (he is dud against spin maybe coming one down he will be exposed to the newish ball and may find his feet)
Asad
Haris
Salahuddin
Sarfaraz
 
I know all of us (including me) were asking for Harry to be moved up to 3 or 4... but a case could be made that he played spectacularly at 6 and should be kept there only. The lack of form of Babar and Asad forced the move for Harry to be pushed up.

It's unfortunate that it is just a 2 match series. If it were a three match, I would have gone with this line up for a third test..

Azhar
Sami
Babar (he is dud against spin maybe coming one down he will be exposed to the newish ball and may find his feet)
Asad
Haris
Salahuddin
Sarfaraz

Don't worry we can try this lineup in SEVEN months time. :najam
 
Why Abbas and not Sarfu? I can do anything for him.can anyone tells me where I can see scores of Pakistan A's tour of Zimbabwe (A team) 5 ODI & 2 Un official tests with Butt,Shadab etch.there.?
 
Tomorrow Shafiq will be completes 11th test century, good luck, even sarfu saves his captaincy
 
Unbelievable partnership by these 2.

I never expected this.

Still Lanka's game to lose.

But a good first hour and things can change real fast.

Can Pak do the impossible? Will be one of the best ever victories if this happens.

200 runs deficit.

Bowl out opposition for 96.

Collapse to 52/5

Chase down 317

Blockbuster script if that ever happens.
 
also to the poster who said it's Shafiq who's playing the spinners better taking the attack to them whereas Sarfraz is batting defensively has obviously not watched the game.

Yes you are right. I only watched the last hour today and in that Shafiq was better.
 
Both desperately need match winning knocks under their belts in test cricket. Such innings give self-belief which is needed very much so in Shafiq's case and also as captain for Sarfraz.
 
Pak takes cornered tigers tag way too seriously,even against Lanka.
 
I know all of us (including me) were asking for Harry to be moved up to 3 or 4... but a case could be made that he played spectacularly at 6 and should be kept there only. The lack of form of Babar and Asad forced the move for Harry to be pushed up.

It's unfortunate that it is just a 2 match series. If it were a three match, I would have gone with this line up for a third test..

Azhar
Sami
Babar (he is dud against spin maybe coming one down he will be exposed to the newish ball and may find his feet)
Asad
Haris
Salahuddin
Sarfaraz

Bhai I see no point in tinkering with Shafiq's position - his best knocks have come at no. 6 why unsettle him? :13:

He does better at 6 than any other position so let him stay there!
 
Shafiq must understand now that there is no use of doing tuk tuk for nothing , he needs to adopt this approach for good now. Enough of lame attitude batting.
 
Babar and masood should be dropped.

Azhar
Sami
Haris
Salahuddin
Shafiq
Sarfraz
Yamin
Yasir
Wahab (i am no fan but beggers cant be choosers)
Hassan
Abbas
 
Magnificent batting. I had given up watching when they were 5 wickets down. Imagine my surprise!!
 
Babar and masood should be dropped.

Azhar
Sami
Haris
Salahuddin
Shafiq
Sarfraz
Yamin
Yasir
Wahab (i am no fan but beggers cant be choosers)
Hassan
Abbas

Sami has done nothing either.
Shehzad is better than Sami on subcontinental pitches.
 
Need to extend this partnership by 80 runs atleast if we are to have a realistic chance.
Sri Lanka still the favourites sadly
 
Our next test match is in england though and only we can imagine shehzad against a swinging duke.

Shehzad hasn't played a Test outside subcontinent and West Indies, so we don't know that as of now.

Not a fan of shehzad, just saying he has done better than Sami on subcontinental pitches.

Plus I feel England would have figured Sami out in the coming tour. In 2016 he was an unknown quantity.

The sad thing is we don't have a single quality opener in our circuit. Azhar is the best we have but Mickey won't let him open now which counts him out.
 
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Brilliant partnership but lets see if they can continue the same approach today.
 
What spitting demons on the wicket made the first 5 Pak wickets fall for 50 runs? The momentum shifted in that session and the Lankans were tired. Tomorrow's a new day, new session. Pakistan have lost 2 too many wickets to make this a slam dunk. All it will take is one good ball to bring the bowlers to the crease. This is test cricket, not book cricket.

That being said, Pakistan have an excellent chance to win. They had an even better chance to win when they started this innings. But that's why they play the damn game. You have to do it, to get it done.
[MENTION=5200]Majestic_Inzi[/MENTION]

Test cricket bro.
 
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