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South Africa defeat Pakistan by 6 wkts to win the 1st Test & take a 1-0 lead in the 3-match series

Would do a whole world of good if Amla regains form. Otherwise SA’s middle order after AB’s retirement looks extremely brittle.

Amla is now at a stage where he will never be consistent again and will show his quality once in 10 innings. South Africa need to search for his replacement already.
 
Yes that would be interesting to see. Steyn and him playing the same game would be interesting.

Personally I don't expect him to get wickets with the old ball.
He is excellent with the new ball and his impact will come at the top.
With Amir alongside him I expect them to create pressure and be disciplined just like in ENG.
 
Came at him fast but he was catching like a fully cricketer. Was taught not catch like that on my first day in club cricket. Utterly disappointing from someone who's one of our better fielders.

He should have reverse cupped it Aussie style. It wasnt easy but it is international cricket and he is a good fielder. Would have made the confidence of team go sky high.
 
We can play around with fake all-rounders and glorified tail-enders like Shadab and Faheem all we want, but the fact is that we will not move an inch from our rightful number 7 ranking unless we can find two 50+ averaging batsmen.

Mediocrities like Azhar, Shafiq and Sarfraz are the reason for our poor ranking. Not our bowling combination.
 
...dude, make sense.

Firstly you called the review a poor one.
It would only have been poor if Amla had hit the ball, pad first means it wasn’t a poor review.
Hawkeye subsequently showed the ball missing completely which was strange as even the commentators were expecting it to show the ball clipping the stumps...

I then told someone else that similar Hawkeye replay yesterday showed the ball hitting even though the swing and the shape of the ball would taken it way down leg side....

So there’s a descrepancy with Hawkeye.

From this you come back with your accusations...
An apology now will be accepted.
 
Abbas alone cannot do anything, if the batters continue to fail, then Pak will loose 3-0

Babar got a good one and I have a feeling Fakhar will fire. He is good at horizontal bat shots and I trust his abilities.

Abbas would add discipline which has been missing here. The lead would've been a lot less had there been discipline.
 
Tampering means someone intentionally changing something.

Which is still poor and an accusation.

Hawkeye is not 100% accurate is the right word.

Yasir’s first innings lbw decision is as dubious it can get, it was sliding down leg side. But, Hawkeye showed it’s hitting leg stump. So, the claim- technology could be tampered for favouring the home team. It’s a tall claim, but you can never rule out the possibility of it happening in the back-end����
 
Personally I don't expect him to get wickets with the old ball.
He is excellent with the new ball and his impact will come at the top.
With Amir alongside him I expect them to create pressure and be disciplined just like in ENG.

A bowler like Abbas was needed on this pitch to bowl that 4th stump line and keep it there all day. Rest of the bowlers dont have such control.
 
We can play around with fake all-rounders and glorified tail-enders like Shadab and Faheem all we want, but the fact is that we will not move an inch from our rightful number 7 ranking unless we can find two 50+ averaging batsmen.

Mediocrities like Azhar, Shafiq and Sarfraz are the reason for our poor ranking. Not our bowling combination.

Your opinion on Fawad Alam and Usman Salahuddin?
 
Amla is now at a stage where he will never be consistent again and will show his quality once in 10 innings. South Africa need to search for his replacement already.
Agree. Much like YK in his later days. If they win the first 2 tests, they should give rest to Amla (test a youngster) and Steyn.
 
We can play around with fake all-rounders and glorified tail-enders like Shadab and Faheem all we want, but the fact is that we will not move an inch from our rightful number 7 ranking unless we can find two 50+ averaging batsmen.

Mediocrities like Azhar, Shafiq and Sarfraz are the reason for our poor ranking. Not our bowling combination.

I agree for once. Specialist captain doesn't hurt in LOIs but we need proper batsmen in tests.

Azhar and Shafiq have been the worst investment ever.

They are the opposite of Afridi. Plenty of runs but nothing impactful or match winning from them.
 
Babar got a good one and I have a feeling Fakhar will fire. He is good at horizontal bat shots and I trust his abilities.

Abbas would add discipline which has been missing here. The lead would've been a lot less had there been discipline.
Fakhar wont fire if he opens with 4 slip fielders waiting for the inevitable edge.
 
Okay. I think Haris should come in place of Asad shafiq. I am afraid Shadab wont make much of a difference. Think Faheem should play in place of Yasir.

Also needs to kick the garbage Captain out of the team. Rizwan should play. Abbas should replace Amir as well.
 
Need to invest in some younger guys who are scoring runs in domestics. This series should be the last one for Shafiq, Asad and Sarfraz.
 
Firstly you called the review a poor one.
It would only have been poor if Amla had hit the ball, pad first means it wasn’t a poor review.
Hawkeye subsequently showed the ball missing completely which was strange as even the commentators were expecting it to show the ball clipping the stumps...

I then told someone else that similar Hawkeye replay yesterday showed the ball hitting even though the swing and the shape of the ball would taken it way down leg side....

So there’s a descrepancy with Hawkeye.

From this you come back with your accusations...
An apology now will be accepted.

It was a poor review because it was always going to miss stumps. It was absolutely clear that it would be missing.
 
Your opinion on Fawad Alam and Usman Salahuddin?

I am not sold on Fawad, but considering our woeful batting in the UAE over the last 12 months, he surely deserves a go. However, he is too old now and perhaps the ship has sailed.

Salahuddin will score runs but he is too slow. We need more batsmen who can maintain a strike rate of 50+.
 
Also needs to kick the garbage Captain out of the team. Rizwan should play. Abbas should replace Amir as well.

Yes. I think Sarfaraz is past his sell by date in Tests. It is an atrocity that the captain fails almost every single time. Problem is, who will be the captain's replacement? Shan masood looks captaincy material but doesnt have the performances yet. Babar is too young and inexperienced in tests. Who can lead the side? Surely not Azhar.
 
Yes. I think Sarfaraz is past his sell by date in Tests. It is an atrocity that the captain fails almost every single time. Problem is, who will be the captain's replacement? Shan masood looks captaincy material but doesnt have the performances yet. Babar is too young and inexperienced in tests. Who can lead the side? Surely not Azhar.

Time for the bowlers to have a go at captaincy, no?
 
I think we should understand that irrespective of our fielding, umpires decisions and even bowling, the reason as to why we're in this position is our batting, and particularly, Sarfraz and Shafiq. The fact that they've gone missing whenever the teams needed them highlights our woes.

Domestic form should count for something. Even if it's just a purple patch, it surely translates into SOMETHING in the international arena, if not marathon performances. We need to bring in Rizwan for Sarfraz. He has been impeccable in domestics off late and Shan Masood has shown that players can most definitely improve.

As for Shafiq, he needs to be dropped for Harris. Even if Harris isn't fully fit, watching Shafiq play is an absolute nightmare. We need to focus on new batsmen, younger batsman and batsman who don't play just enough to make the XI.

Furthermore, FZ needs to be persisted with. He is made for these pitches. Mickey has faith in him, I'm sure.
 
Yes. I think Sarfaraz is past his sell by date in Tests. It is an atrocity that the captain fails almost every single time. Problem is, who will be the captain's replacement? Shan masood looks captaincy material but doesnt have the performances yet. Babar is too young and inexperienced in tests. Who can lead the side? Surely not Azhar.

Might as well go with Fakhar for the two remaining tests.
 
Time for the bowlers to have a go at captaincy, no?

I support the idea of having bowlers as captains but a big criteria here should be fitness. Are Pakistani bowlers fit enough to play all (or most) games as is expected from captains? Hasan and now Abbas have had issues with fitness. Amir demands rest far too often. Yasir doesnt look like a captain. Do you think there is a bowler who is captaincy material as well as fit enough for the role?
 
It’s a pointless discussion anyway. Azhar is going to be the captain if we get blanked in this series.
 
Yes. I think Sarfaraz is past his sell by date in Tests. It is an atrocity that the captain fails almost every single time. Problem is, who will be the captain's replacement? Shan masood looks captaincy material but doesnt have the performances yet. Babar is too young and inexperienced in tests. Who can lead the side? Surely not Azhar.

Just make Amir captain for the next 2 games if it has to be, I'd go with Masood personally. I know the man personally and I can tell you, he doesn't need cricket for material reasons and I think anyone can tell he's not one to run after fame like Imad, who I also know. He is a hardworking bloke who has a genuine passion for cricket.

A bit off topic but while Shan Masood was in the UK, he had the opportunity to take a corporate job post Uni, which would also gove him post-study work visa. This visa is EXTREMELY hard to get for international students, same as jobs. Anyone studying in the UK would know this. Shan Masood left that opportunity to grind it out in Pakistan domestics. That says a lot about how hard he's worked to be where he is. He is made for captaincy, just like Salman Butt.
 
It was a poor review because it was always going to miss stumps. It was absolutely clear that it would be missing.

Ok so the commentators, myself and others here were wrong...
You really are “something” aren’t you?
 
Yes. I think Sarfaraz is past his sell by date in Tests. It is an atrocity that the captain fails almost every single time. Problem is, who will be the captain's replacement? Shan masood looks captaincy material but doesnt have the performances yet. Babar is too young and inexperienced in tests. Who can lead the side? Surely not Azhar.

Just make Amir captain for the next 2 games if it has to be, I'd go with Masood personally. I know the man personally and I can tell you, he doesn't need cricket for material reasons and I think anyone can tell he's not one to run after fame like Imad, who I also know. He is a hardworking bloke who has a genuine passion for cricket.

A bit off topic but while Shan Masood was in the UK, he had the opportunity to take a corporate job post Uni, which would also gove him post-study work visa. This visa is EXTREMELY hard to get for international students, same as jobs. Anyone studying in the UK would know this. Shan Masood left that opportunity to grind it out in Pakistan domestics. That says a lot about how hard he's worked to be where he is. He is made for captaincy, just like Salman Butt.
 
I support the idea of having bowlers as captains but a big criteria here should be fitness. Are Pakistani bowlers fit enough to play all (or most) games as is expected from captains? Hasan and now Abbas have had issues with fitness. Amir demands rest far too often. Yasir doesnt look like a captain. Do you think there is a bowler who is captaincy material as well as fit enough for the role?

Aamir is definitely captaincy material. Mind you, we're just talking about test captaincy. So is Shan. Shan needs to establish himself tho.
 
Ok so the commentators, myself and others here were wrong...
You really are “something� aren’t you?

Well, clearly you were wrong as it was missing stumps clear as day. I don't understand why it's so hard to admit that you were wrong even after being proven wrong.
 
Well, clearly you were wrong as it was missing stumps clear as day. I don't understand why it's so hard to admit that you were wrong even after being proven wrong.

I hope you don’t conduct yourself like this in general. You need to open your mind and be able to think and admit when you’re wrong. Learn from them and grow as a person...
Otherwise you’ll get nowhere in life..

Hope you’ve learned “something”.
 
I hope you don’t conduct yourself like this in general. You need to open your mind and be able to think and admit when you’re wrong. Learn from them and grow as a person...
Otherwise you’ll get nowhere in life..

Hope you’ve learned “something”.

Okay chacha jee.

but I have a question. Was the ball missing the stumps or not?
 
Okay chacha jee.

but I have a question. Was the ball missing the stumps or not?

This last one looked a poor review as the it hit him high and always looked like going over.
The earlier one did not look like a poor review because the doubt was whether the ball hit the bat or the pad. Once it was established it was pad first it became a good review because everyone thought with the naked eye that it would at least clip the stumps.....
 
Amir is producing pound grunts before throwing 129kph thunderbolts. Not even one ball crossed 130kph. Should take rest, rejuvenate and come back for a quicker spell.
 
As I thought SA is winning it easily. Pakistan is supposed to be easily whitewashed in this series. Their batting is not good enough to win here.
 
No forward short leg. No silly point. Elgar would have been out if there was one. Sarfaraz is waiting for the inevitable.
 
Don't see usual Bhakts posting anymore, but hope they are following the thread without logging in :)

Now, can anyone explain, on this wicket, why there is no short leg? Obviously it's bowlers fault because he didn't ask for it.
 
Don't see usual Bhakts posting anymore, but hope they are following the thread without logging in :)

Now, can anyone explain, on this wicket, why there is no short leg? Obviously it's bowlers fault because he didn't ask for it.
He has one now. Should have had one earlier as well. Elgar would have been out. Now he knows the plan. Would duck happily.
 
I thought 300 overs will be enough here for a direct result - but as usual proven wrong again :(, 225 looks like enough.
 
Lack of pace for Amir is making him so easy to play, otherwise he's bowling a nice line and length. Looks even slower than he did in the last series.
 
Imagine if this was Pakistan chasing this total and we were 98 for one...
How many of you would be comfortable now knowing our previous collapses??

Surely even we couldn’t lose it from this position?
 
Imagine if this was Pakistan chasing this total and we were 98 for one...
How many of you would be comfortable now knowing our previous collapses??

Surely even we couldn’t lose it from this position?
 
Shan has become a hero just after one half century. People will claim his axing from the team once he starts performing badly. Pakistan has no chance unless they bring back Fawad,Haris and other performers of domestic cricket instead of Asad,Azhar
 
Amla looks to be back in rthym. Let's see if Pakistan bounces back in the next game.
 
Don't see usual Bhakts posting anymore, but hope they are following the thread without logging in :)

Now, can anyone explain, on this wicket, why there is no short leg? Obviously it's bowlers fault because he didn't ask for it.

It was in place when Shaheen was bowling.
 
Pak batsman cannot construct a test innings to save there lives, bowlers cannot bowl consistent line & length without giving a freebie an over.

Rubbish team with a even rubbish captain
 
Can't believe people want Hasan dropped. Drop a batsman if anything, Hasan gives you adrenaline that none of these lot do. Sure, he's become cringey and annoying but he's real good.
 
Shameful defeat is coming for Pakistan.
This match shows that you should be a good team to win match while winning the toss.
PCT should introspect about why they lost the match even after winning the toss with this dipleated SA side.
 
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