South Africa finish Day 1 of first Test at 127/5 in response to Pakistan's total of 181

[Rana]

uneven bounce not as evident now

 

[Hadi Rizvi]

Finally, Amir.

 

[DRsohail]

Sa 70;30.

 

[Madplayer]

Pakistan has lost the advantage.

 

[Rana]

Back on the money

 

[GLORY OF '92]

Must keep them to 220 max. Then score 240

 

[Asif321]

Losing grip of game now

 

[Plumb]

Shaheen/Hasan needs to play 1-2 domestic seasons to become a test bowler

 

[Ab Fan]

Good batting by the two young fellow.

 

[Stalin]

Pakistan has lost the advantage.

Still in the balance. South Africa have to bat last . Can't see them taking a lead of over 50 or 60.

 

[Plumb]

Need to contain runs if we not getting wickets. Problem is we have given 30-35 freebies just because of bad length

 

[Rana]

would love to see a yorker

 

[DRsohail]

Amir getting slower.

 

[Zeeraq]

Out!

 

[Hadi Rizvi]

There you go

To hell with Amir Haters!!!!!!!

 

[Amjid Javed]

Huge wicket, well done amir

 

[Ikball]

Amir you beauty...!

 

[Stalin]

There it is

 

[Plumb]

YESSSSSS AMIR my boy thats the length I am talking about

 

[mak36]

There you go

To hell with Amir Haters!!!!!!!

Good captaincy too, but haters will carry on burying their heads.

 

[Buffet]

Pakistan can take lead here.

 

[Adnan_Ilyas]

Brilliant comeback from Amir

 

[Rana]

And thats that!!!

 

[Plumb]

you see what I mean by bowling in domestic he got his length

 

[DRsohail]

well done man.....................

 

[Ikball]

Pakistan should try to get a lead of 50 runs to win this match.

 

[Shandarchowka]

de Bruyn... average player but made to look good by our relaxed bowlers

 

[Stalin]

We are in for a potential 20 wicket day here. Of course, if all the remaining overs are bowled.

 

[Rana]

The most solid batsman gone!

 

[Adijazz1706]

Yeah haters talk nah

 

[Titan24]

Dale steyn as night watchman

 

[Plumb]

steyn to face the chin music bowl some nasty ones to him guyz

 

[DRsohail]

Get DK and we are into the tail.

 

[We Bleed Green]

If we can take a lead or deficit or 20 or less then we are back in the game.

Remember, we aint batting last

 

[Amjid Javed]

One more wicket would be great here. I can see us scoring two many 2nd inns so we need to make sure we take last 5 SA wickets cheaply.

 

[Hadi Rizvi]

Amir is just class.

And to think some posters here thought he was done for good.

Humble pie waiting for y'all.

 

[Ab Fan]

Interesting game ahead.Evenly poised.

 

[mak36]

We are in for a potential 20 wicket day here. Of course, if all the remaining overs are bowled.

Only playing for another ten minutes.

 

[Adijazz1706]

de Bruyn... average player but made to look good by our relaxed bowlers

He has an FC average 50+ IIRC, that too in SA domestic

 

[Rana]

SA offering bait to Pakistan. going 6 down over night will not do them any favours

 

[Amjid Javed]

If we can take a lead or deficit or 20 or less then we are back in the game.

Remember, we aint batting last

Batting last on day 2 or 3 pitch is different to day 4 or 5.

 

[Buffet]

Must keep them to 220 max. Then score 240

First 5 have not made even 115. 220 will make SA unit happy.

 

[Deewana Mastana]

Come on Shaheen get Steyn now

 

[Rana]

Shaheen needs to be bowling 150 by the age of 22. Otherwise its a real shame

 

[Stalin]

Only playing for another ten minutes.

No !

 

[Plumb]

Did shaheen gave styen a look?

 

[Deewana Mastana]

Put some effort into the bowling here...need to get the nightwatchman out.

 

[Hadi Rizvi]

Just get some sort of a lead and aim to bat as long as we can.

 

[Adijazz1706]

The 'quota pick' Bavuma is the key, have to get him soon

 

[Asif321]

Amiraaaa . Shaba one more befor close

 

[Plumb]

Amir ll get another wicket next over

 

[Deewana Mastana]

Shaheen needs to be bowling 150 by the age of 22. Otherwise its a real shame

Problem is there's no development of players in Pakistan. There's no real institutes or professionals who really understand the technicalities.

 

[Titan24]

Batting last on day 2 or 3 pitch is different to day 4 or 5.

Agreed, but 4th innings coming in on 2nd or 3rd day shows the pitch isnt an easy one so whatever it is its in the most deteriorated state in the 4th innings.

 

[Adijazz1706]

Steyn on strike again

 

[Stalin]

Is that it? Okay still playing

 

[Plumb]

ooo almost

 

[Stalin]

Agreed, but 4th innings coming in on 2nd or 3rd day shows the pitch isnt an easy one so whatever it is its in the most deteriorated state in the 4th innings.

Plus there's always the pressure of a "Run chase"

 

[Deewana Mastana]

Steyn putting our tailenders to shame with that technique.

 

[Deewana Mastana]

Amir is angry by the fielding and why am I not surprised ) )

 

[Plumb]

Steyn putting our tailenders to shame with that technique.

You meant our batsmen

 

[Plumb]

"come back tomorrow dale steyn could hit 100" who is this patriotic joker?

 

[NauV]

Only 57 to go and they still have QdK. Maharaj is also a decent bat

 

[Rana]

hurtful runs these by Steyn

 

[Ozymandiasza]

"come back tomorrow dale steyn could hit 100" who is this patriotic joker?

Ntini.

 

[DRsohail]

Only 57 to go and they still have QdK. Maharaj is also a decent bat

Rabada is also good.

 

[Stalin]

Rabada is also good.

Good ? He is a better bat than Imam can ever be .

 

[NauV]

Very useful 13 runs (not out) by Steyn

 

[Kashmirilion]

Sarfraz is a thick captain surely could've given Hasan couple over before end of play.

 

[Buffet]

If this pair can add some runs then it will be a huge bonus.

 

[Stalin]

What a day of test match Cricket And they say test cricket is boring.

 

[Titan24]

Arther looks happy

 

[Ab Fan]

Interesting here. Remember de Kock scores his runs fast, so a quick 30-40 will make up for SA and some runs from Rabada or Maharaj will help as well. SA should look to reach 225 mark tomorrow.

 

[Rayyman]

Decent day, but first session will be crucial tomorrow. Need at least 2 wickets then.

 

[Asif321]

We have 54 runs in bag and 5 wickets to get
Let’s get them quickly tommrow
SA ahead but Pak still in it

 

[Titan24]

Pretty surprising PTV sports isnt covering the series

 

[Mueez]

Pak still in the game because of their bowling.

Game on!

 

[Oligochaetes]

Quite a comeback from 43-4 =(

 

[Arham_PakFan]

Good recovery by South Africa.

Need to get the remaining wickets quickly tomorrow.

Hopefully we can restrict them to below 181,but the lead shouldn't be more than 30-40 runs.

 

[Arham_PakFan]

Interesting here. Remember de Kock scores his runs fast, so a quick 30-40 will make up for SA and some runs from Rabada or Maharaj will help as well. SA should look to reach 225 mark tomorrow.

QdK has been out of form recently. Pak needs to take advantage of that.

 

[MenInG]

OLIVIER, BABAR AND STEYN’S RECORD MOMENT DOMINATE ACTION-PACKED TEST MATCH

Wednesday, 26 December 2018

DALE STEYN duly took outright possession of the South African leading wicket-taker list; Kagiso Rabada moved joint top of the calendar year leading bowling statistics with Sri Lanka’s Dilruwan Perera on 49 dismissals in 2018; and Duanne Olivier took a career best 6/37 to get the Castle Lager Test series between the Standard Bank Proteas and Pakistan at SuperSport Park off to an action-packed start on Wednesday.

And that was by no means the summary of the action. In the midst of this bowling success Babar Azam played a superb run-a-ball innings of 71 for Pakistan (79 balls, 15 fours) that included a crucial stand of 67 for the ninth wicket with Hasan Ali.

And then Pakistan’s attack proved equally effective as they had the Proteas in huge trouble at 43/4 that included the loss of 3 wickets in 11 balls without a run being scored before they recovered to 127/5 at the close for a deficit of just 54 runs. On balance the Proteas are probably slightly ahead as they still have Temba Bavuma (38 off 47 balls, 6 fours) at the crease with Quinton de Kock also left of their specialist batsmen.

In Pakistan’s favour is the fact that the Proteas will have to bat last on a pitch that has reaped 15 wickets on day one. Both the bounce and the pace of the pitch are variable and this has made the batting task increasingly more difficult.

Olivier gave a classic fast bowling display, using a short-pitched attack to catch most of the Pakistan batsmen on the crease. He has had a wonderful season to date with 27 wickets at an average of 18 in the 4-day Domestic Series followed by being the leading wicket-taker in the Mzansi Super League.

He also had a match after the end of the MSL back in the 4-day competition and this enabled him to groove his game for the best day of his Test career to date.

Circumstances Babar’s contribution was equally the match of that of Olivier. He played a truly commanding innings, studded with impressive cover drives, square cuts as well as vigorous pulls through the midwicket area. His innings reached a climax when he took 9 boundaries in 3 overs from Steyn in mid-afternoon and it is not often that South Africa’s champion is treated like that.

But the day will always be remembered for Steyn’s record moment which has been delayed for two years by a succession of injuries. Having Steyn and Rabada fit and firing together is a priceless advantage the Proteas can take forward into the future.