South Africa (270/2) crush Pakistan (269/9) by 8 wickets to level the 3-match ODI series at 1-1

[Cricket Warrior]

 

[mon858]

On what basis you would drop your only Specialist spinner and add 2 pacers playing in Faisalabad. This wasn't Perth. Fine to add Wasim and Faheem even but perhaps drop Nasim and keep Abrar.

 

[rpant_gabba]

I personally think cast iron is the best.

High Carbon steel is where its at.

 

[Cricket Warrior]

Quinton de Kock’s sublime 22nd ODI century powered South Africa to a commanding eight-wicket victory over Pakistan in the second ODI at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad, on Thursday evening.

With this result, the three-match series now stands level at 1-1, setting up an exciting decider on Saturday, 8 November.

Chasing 270 for victory, South Africa made light work of the target, reaching it in just 40.1 overs. De Kock led the charge with an unbeaten 123 off 119 balls, laced with eight fours and seven sixes. He found a perfect partner in Tony de Zorzi, who struck a brisk 76 from 63 deliveries, featuring nine fours and three sixes. Together, the pair added 153 runs for the second wicket, effectively sealing the contest. Opener Lhuan-dre Pretorius had earlier set the tone with a fluent 46 off 40 balls, hitting seven boundaries and a six.

For Pakistan, Faheem Ashraf and Mohammad Wasim Jnr managed one wicket each, but the bowlers struggled to contain South Africa’s aggressive batting display.

Earlier, after opting to bat first, Pakistan posted 269-9 in their allotted 50 overs. Saim Ayub (53 off 66), Mohammad Nawaz (59 off 59), and Salman Ali Agha (69 off 106) all made valuable contributions. After an early collapse, Saim and Agha steadied the innings with a 92-run partnership for the fourth wicket, while Nawaz’s late hitting and Faheem Ashraf’s quickfire 28 off 18 balls, including two fours and two sixes, lifted Pakistan to a competitive total.

Among the South African bowlers, Nandre Burger stood out with figures of 4-46 from his 10 overs. Wrist-spinner Nqabayomzi Peter chipped in with 3-55, while pacer Corbin Bosch claimed 2-58 to wrap up a solid all-round performance from the visitors.

 

[nish_mate]

I personally think cast iron is the best.

Only if seasoned, otherwise about as useful as gulli Ka selected pacer like

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

Some fans may not like to hear it but Pakistan need players like Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shadab Khan. The possibility of them even having a good outing with bat or ball is something Pakistan desperately need in white-ball. Because right now it feels like the team is being held together by cheap tape and UHU glue.

 

[Hawkeye]

The problem with Pakistan is that these are the best players available in pakistan. Salman Agha was MOM in last game. He is good enough player to play in ODI for Pakistan. Pakistan players game is best suited for 240-275 type of total ..they don't have the higher celing than that. They might score some odd 300 but that won't be regular.their players are not tailor made for that . Their fast bowlers are also over rated . Shaheen is overrated imo..they need to find 1 or 2 more young quick fast bowler who have the hunger and potential to become match winner. Shaheen and Naseem are good supporting bowlers they are not outstanding bowler. Pakistan need someone who can lead this pack.

These are not the "best" players available, they are in the eyes of selectors who still think oldschool batting is the way to go and 260-270 is a competitive score in ODIs.

 

[Hawkeye]

Some fans may not like to hear it but Pakistan need players like Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shadab Khan. The possibility of them even having a good outing with bat or ball is something Pakistan desperately need in white-ball. Because right now it feels like the team is being held together by cheap tape and UHU glue.

Lmao, even worse. Want to score 220?

Those are not proper cricketers, just quacks. Cannot bowl, cannot bat.

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

Lmao, even worse. Want to score 220?

Those are not proper cricketers, just quacks. Cannot bowl, cannot bat.

Well it's not like the batters and bowlers are any better in the one thing they are supposed to be good at

 

[jnaveen1980]

Shaheen Naseem Md wasim Nawaz Faheem Ayub Agha Husain Talat 8 bowlers. In this 4 all rounders.Not sure Faheem is needed in this line up. You might as well go for extra batsman. Hesson is trying to turn even ODI team into bits and pieces team. SA had specialists who delivered brilliantly

 

[Aami]

Pakistan have been trying to turn potential into class for at least a decade now but nothing really has come up trumps when it comes to white ball explosive batting to catch up with the rest of the world.

We've had successes in Saim Ayub and recently Sahibzada Farhan up front and Salman Ali Agha in the middle order (especially in odis) but too many failures or the odd game winners and false dawns, the list continues to grow from Asif Ali, Haider Ali, the paratha chasing on a good length Azam Khan, Usman Khan, M Haris, Khushdil Shah, Chachu Ifti and many more that I cant care to remember.

Now, I sincerely hope that Hasan Nawaz and Irfan Khan.Niazi do not go the same route followed by Abdul Samad.

Now, here is to hoping that we go into an odi match looking to score 350 plus as oppose to settling for 270-280?

 

[Abid Z]

Honestly what a mauling. I don’t know if I should cry more about the performance or poor planning. Who bats first on a juicy pitch like this against 146kph bowlers after winning the toss knowing dew will set in.

 

[Mohraheem]

Tuk tuk .. that’s all I’m going to say! No aggression. Just bunch of players giving tribute to Misbah Ul haq.

 

[sweep_shot]

Honestly what a mauling. I don’t know if I should cry more about the performance or poor planning. Who bats first on a juicy pitch like this against 146kph bowlers after winning the toss knowing dew will set in.

White ball leg has been pretty even. Pakistan won the T20 series 2-1 and ODI series is at 1-1 currently.

 

[Abid Z]

White ball leg has been pretty even. Pakistan won the T20 series 2-1 and ODI series is at 1-1 currently.

I know. But t20 is Mickey Mouse cricket.
Anybody can win or lose. It’s really sad to see such awful planning

Faheem and Talat (should be one or the other.
Naseem looks fat
Wasim was out bowling the other two
Batting first when dew sets in later
No full time spinner.

these are the things that make you wanna scream.

 

[Savak]

Salman Ali Agha's knock 69 of 109 deliveries was a poor one in the end. If you play so many deliveries you need to make it count in the end which most world class players do otherwise the entire knock ends up being selfish, impactless and something which ended up hurting the team in the long run.

 

[sweep_shot]

Salman Ali Agha's knock 69 of 109 deliveries was a poor one in the end. If you play so many deliveries you need to make it count in the end which most world class players do otherwise the entire knock ends up being selfish, impactless and something which ended up hurting the team in the long run.

Agree.

Faisalabad has a flat pitch. 69 off 109 in Faisalabad is very poor.

 

[Abid Z]

Salman Ali Agha's knock 69 of 109 deliveries was a poor one in the end. If you play so many deliveries you need to make it count in the end which most world class players do otherwise the entire knock ends up being selfish, impactless and something which ended up hurting the team in the long run.

Maybe you weren’t watching. Burger and Bosch were pretty much unplayable. It wasn’t about scoring but survival. Once they were seen off then the spinners put on a bit of a stranglehold.

But when Pak bowled dew had set on. The ball came nicely into the bat and spinners were constantly drying a wet ball.

Yet you criticise the only player that scored something

 

[Farabi]

After that champion trophy happened and Pakistan knockout without winning any matches

And no Africa didn't play with full strength team in gat series as well.

Miller, played
- Rabada, played
- No Stubbs, not first choice ODI
- No Rickleton, not first choice ODI then
- No Markram, player
- No Brevis, not first choice ODI then
- No Maharaj, didn’t play
- No Jansen, played
- No Ngidi/ Coetzee, injured
- No Rassie Van Dussen played

Also shamsi, Klassen, Bavuma Di Zorzi, who are their first choice players also played.

 

[Nasty Naz]

I am going to lose my mind if I see Hussain Talat play again in any format. What a total rubbish player. It blows my mind a mediocre player like him is getting chances when he is simply not that good at anything.

 

[Cricket Warrior]

South Africa’s leg-spinner Nqabayomzi Peter registered a rare ODI record with three caught and bowled dismissals against Pakistan in the second ODI here at the Iqbal Stadium on Thursday.

During his spell, the 23-year-old picked up the wickets of Hussain Talat, Mohammad Nawaz, and Shaheen Shah Afridi all caught and bowled. With this he became the first bowler in ODI history to achieve the feat in a single innings.

 

[ads101]

I don’t think Agha played a bad knock. Blame the rest for not being able to stay in. We were struggling, and at least he gut it out and stayed in. 260 something is far more than we expected to get. And it helped that you had one experienced batsman staying in and the rest batting around him.

The mistake was choosing to bat first. It got easier batting second. We may have lost way, not an excuse.

I’d much rather players try to stay in difficult situations and make it up later. It’s no point of just throwing your wicket, and leaving it to the next guy. That creates pressure on the run rate with falling wickets too.

Unfortunately all of our batsmen bar Agha and Nawaz (who even the latter isn’t actually a batsman so you shouldn’t count on him in the same way) got out cheaply. When you are down to your last proper partnership, you just trying to make the best out of it. The damage was already done by losing all the other batsmen cheaply. 269 was an absolutely great total considering our start.

Our biggest issue is accelerating once set. Not the sr at the start. But as I said can’t blame them, it is hard accelerating when if you get out that’s the last proper batsman out.

 

[globetrotter]

South Africa's B team thrashed Pakistan by 8 wickets......

 

[Caved12]

Maybe you weren’t watching. Burger and Bosch were pretty much unplayable. It wasn’t about scoring but survival. Once they were seen off then the spinners put on a bit of a stranglehold.

But when Pak bowled dew had set on. The ball came nicely into the bat and spinners were constantly drying a wet ball.

Yet you criticise the only player that scored something

Honestly, 95% of posters here act like only batters exist in cricket as if they’re the only ones who can change a game. Every time there’s a discussion in a match thread, it’s always about what the batter should’ve done differently or how they shouldn’t have gotten out. But people completely ignore the fact that bowlers often produce spells that are simply unplayable. A single good spell, sometimes just 4 to 6 overs can flip the entire game. I’ve said it many times before, but some posters stay fixated on players they dislike and refuse to give credit where it’s due. Even the best batters can look clueless when bowlers are reading them perfectly and bowling their heart out. That’s exactly what happened today, South Africa’s pacers deserve huge credit for that outstanding display early on. They completely turned the game in the first powerplay.

 

[harshjoshi87]

Pakistan reached 269 because of Salman's 70. Most posters here are bashing him, if he would have got out for 10-15, Pak would have folded under 125.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

Important not to over analyse this loss. Nobody could predict that amount dew, which was absent in the first match.

Pitch curation needs to get better.

Either prepare pitches with lower clay content , which minimises the impact of dew.

Or , even on clayey pitches, make sure it is well watered and is rock hard and even team batting first can set up dew-proof totals

 

[Abid Z]

Important not to over analyse this loss. Nobody could predict that amount dew, which was absent in the first match.

Pitch curation needs to get better.

Either prepare pitches with lower clay content , which minimises the impact of dew.

Or , even on clayey pitches, make sure it is well watered and is rock hard and even team batting first can set up dew-proof totals

That may or may not be true. But the minute the ball gets to the outfield it’s wet. Then you’re bowling second with a wet ball which will neither swing nor seam nor spin no matter what the clay content is. Pak were constantly wiping the ball. Sure sign that something was not working.
But this raises the next question. Dew sets in later in the night. For the first 10-15 overs when Pak were bowling there was no dew. The bowlers were bowling all over the place. This was then simply a poor bowling performance. When the batting is average you need bowlers to be exceptional. Burger and Bosch were exceptional. Shaheen and Naseem unfortunately not.

 

[Abid Z]

Honestly, 95% of posters here act like only batters exist in cricket as if they’re the only ones who can change a game. Every time there’s a discussion in a match thread, it’s always about what the batter should’ve done differently or how they shouldn’t have gotten out. But people completely ignore the fact that bowlers often produce spells that are simply unplayable. A single good spell, sometimes just 4 to 6 overs can flip the entire game. I’ve said it many times before, but some posters stay fixated on players they dislike and refuse to give credit where it’s due. Even the best batters can look clueless when bowlers are reading them perfectly and bowling their heart out. That’s exactly what happened today, South Africa’s pacers deserve huge credit for that outstanding display early on. They completely turned the game in the first powerplay.

Yes true. To be honest it was great to see the lower order fight hard to get to 260 a couple of tweaks and this is a decent batting line up (I don’t know that we need two of Talat and faheem…I don’t know why Farhan or KG can’t be in the line up). The only reason we got to 260 is a massive captaincy error by SAF to take off their fast bowlers after 5 overs and turn to spin. Gave agha a bit of breathing space bless him.

But the far bigger issues are. Our fast bowling compared to burger and Bosch was substandard. They were simply immaculate. Wasim was good but not as good as them. People need to realise how much our bowling must improve.

But the management my god what an awful show. Could easily have sent a message out to stop the singles (dab to third man allowing rotation of strike ) things like this are just elementary.

 

[Abid Z]

South Africa’s leg-spinner Nqabayomzi Peter registered a rare ODI record with three caught and bowled dismissals against Pakistan in the second ODI here at the Iqbal Stadium on Thursday.

During his spell, the 23-year-old picked up the wickets of Hussain Talat, Mohammad Nawaz, and Shaheen Shah Afridi all caught and bowled. With this he became the first bowler in ODI history to achieve the feat in a single innings.

He’s a very good bowler. In a couple of years he will be a superstar. Has a brain. Was setting fields constantly just lacks a bit of control which is normal for young leg spinners.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

That may or may not be true. But the minute the ball gets to the outfield it’s wet. Then you’re bowling second with a wet ball which will neither swing nor seam nor spin no matter what the clay content is. Pak were constantly wiping the ball. Sure sign that something was not working.
But this raises the next question. Dew sets in later in the night. For the first 10-15 overs when Pak were bowling there was no dew. The bowlers were bowling all over the place. This was then simply a poor bowling performance. When the batting is average you need bowlers to be exceptional. Burger and Bosch were exceptional. Shaheen and Naseem unfortunately not.

South Africa were probably the better side but that margin of victory was all down to the changing conditions. Bosch and Burger would've struggled bowling second too .

Quinton and Tony were walking out of the crease and hitting on the up with impunity.

They couldn't do that against these same bowlers in the first ODI.

The clay content does matter. The ball getting wet itself is not as much an issue as the pitch absorbing moisture which high clay content pitches do .

A dry, soft pitch in the afternoon where the ball does not come on to the bat absorbs the dew and becomes harder/more compact and the ball comes on to the bat much easier, allowing aggresive strokeplay.

 

[Josh]

Dew didn't have that much impact. Last ball of the night was gripping and it was an edge of Saim's ball

Important not to over analyse this loss. Nobody could predict that amount dew, which was absent in the first match.

Pitch curation needs to get better.

Either prepare pitches with lower clay content , which minimises the impact of dew.

Or , even on clayey pitches, make sure it is well watered and is rock hard and even team batting first can set up dew-proof totals

 

[Nikhil_cric]

Dew didn't have that much impact. Last ball of the night was gripping and it was an edge of Saim's ball

That was at the very end. The fast bowlers' deliveries were skidding through very easily for most of that innings.

 

[Abid Z]

South Africa were probably the better side but that margin of victory was all down to the changing conditions. Bosch and Burger would've struggled bowling second too .

Quinton and Tony were walking out of the crease and hitting on the up with impunity.

They couldn't do that against these same bowlers in the first ODI.

The clay content does matter. The ball getting wet itself is not as much an issue as the pitch absorbing moisture which high clay content pitches do .

A dry, soft pitch in the afternoon where the ball does not come on to the bat absorbs the dew and becomes harder/more compact and the ball comes on to the bat much easier, allowing aggresive strokeplay.

That’s probably the understatement of the night. SAF weren’t just better they completely mauled us. In short they read the conditions better and we gifted them the game by not only batting first but also bowling poorly.

In other words a bunch of reserves can do the basics right like bowling in the channel moving it in and out but keeping it tight at high speed and then adapt their strokeplay in foreign conditions that even the home team didn’t prepare for.

This is about lack of planning. Yes SSA is a new captain but the management sitting on the sides are clearly inept. Naseem looks rusty but burger also has been sat on the bench Looked sharp by comparison. They bought a rookie leg spinner we dropped Abrar etc etc.

The home side was completely unprepared and outplayed in every facet pretty much like the 2nd test. This isn’t a one off, a pattern is emerging. Failure to read match situations and conditions bowling as a unit setting inappropriate fields etc. It’s bigger than individual faults.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

That’s probably the understatement of the night. SAF weren’t just better they completely mauled us. In short they read the conditions better and we gifted them the game by not only batting first but also bowling poorly.

In other words a bunch of reserves can do the basics right like bowling in the channel moving it in and out but keeping it tight at high speed and then adapt their strokeplay in foreign conditions that even the home team didn’t prepare for.

This is about lack of planning. Yes SSA is a new captain but the management sitting on the sides are clearly inept. Naseem looks rusty but burger also has been sat on the bench Looked sharp by comparison. They bought a rookie leg spinner we dropped Abrar etc etc.

The home side was completely unprepared and outplayed in every facet pretty much like the 2nd test. This isn’t a one off, a pattern is emerging. Failure to read match situations and conditions bowling as a unit setting inappropriate fields etc. It’s bigger than individual faults.

Agreed. But some of the problems with PAK's ODI cricket are long term issues and not specific to last night

The batting only has 3 somewhat reliable players in Saim, Agha and Rizwan. Babar has been completely missing for the last 2.5 years and I think Fakhar is pretty much done as an elite batsman as well. And the bowling has been dependent on Shaheen for way too long.

I don't think Naseem was rusty. He has been poor since that Asia Cup shoulder injury.

These issues have existed for more than 2 years now.

 

[Abid Z]

You’re right. The problems have existed for a while and can’t be changed overnight and rely on a steady upward trajectory. I just don’t see that right now.

The bowling has to be tackled first. Really we are the only country in the world that relies on the same 2 fast bowlers for every format. When they underperform we act surprised. SSA is over bowled, all others are under bowled (with spin taking up the slack).

This is a massive problem. Just look at how Australia are developing players. Boland one of the best in the world can’t get a game but steadily builds up his experience. SAF have burger just thrown in but they have Ngidi, Coetzee Rabada, and Jansen being rotated. That’s real pressure for places which we just don’t have.

This sort term thinking is a real problem

 

[JaDed]

Only if seasoned, otherwise about as useful as gulli Ka selected pacer like

Very true I use coconut oil for seasoning.