South Africa vs Pakistan | 1st Test | Johannesburg | 1/2/13 | Day 1

[RehanG]

so SA won the toss and electing to bat first, i would say get them under 300!

South Africa team
GC Smith*, AN Petersen, HM Amla, JH Kallis, AB de Villiers†, F du Plessis, D Elgar, VD Philander, RJ Peterson, DW Steyn, M Morkel

Pakistan team
Mohammad Hafeez, Nasir Jamshed, Azhar Ali, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq*, Asad Shafiq, Sarfraz Ahmed†, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Junaid Khan, Rahat Ali

 

[shah_1]

so excited, afte a long gap Pakistan is playing test cricket

 

[RehanG]

Rahat Ali is playing!

 

[shah_1]

big news, Rahat ali playing instead of Irfan

 

[speed]

Great news

 

[iafzal]

Rahat Ali, that must be the surprise Misbah must have mentioned.
Cannot ask for a better pitch to bowl at. Although batting is formidable so time for Rahat to be counted or be left behind

 

[adnan yasin]

Good to see Rahat ALi is playing here....really wanna see him bowl here

I think SA took a risky decision of batting first....though smith is expecting the cracks to open on day 4 ...

All were expecting a fresh wicket ....but if its cracking then its the same old traditional track in Jo berg

 

[menace2society]

Rahat Ali, that must be the surprise Misbah must have mentioned.
Cannot ask for a better pitch to bowl at. Although batting is formidable so time for Rahat to be counted or be left behind

Oh comon its the kids first test match against the worlds best team!

give him a few games before judging jeez

 

[PTI tsunami]

South Africa v Pakistan |1st Test| Day 1, 1st February

Why Rabat is playing when Ehsan adil was originally in squad same old politics

 

[Jeetu111]

as expected,lambu is not playing & Waqar says prolly poor fitness.

 

[sali]

LOL. SA were making all the plans to play Irfan and concern about his bounce but here comes another medim pacer with hype.

 

[shah_1]

IT is going tough against SA

 

[Luton Bad Boy]

Rahat Ali is the suprise package.....instead of Mohammad Irfan

Now is the time for Pakistan to show how far they have progressed since Lords-gate (2010)

 

[adnan yasin]

Why Rabat is playing when Ehsan adil was originally in squad same old politics

as per inside news on media been leaked misbah is not happy with ehsan adil while seeing him on nets in South africa with kokabura ball

 

[bigdaddymiandad]

cant wait to see Junaid Khan ripping through the South African top order and getting the run machine Amla out early and Younus Khan hooking and pulling the mighty Steyn and scoring a century

 

[Bullet Drive]

Good luck Pak. Pak to win.

 

[Bullet Drive]

I think we need to get them out for around 160.. and then our selves build a 150 lead.

 

[IAJ]

Waqar saying Rahat is not that quick but he hits the deck hard. But I am quite sure he is quicker than waqar thinks.

 

[shah_1]

Adnan Yasin has got it right, they not been impressed with Eshan Edil with Kokobura ball

Waqar hasn't really got some good words for Rahat

 

[MVP26]

Inshallah junaif to get 5fer.

 

[MVP26]

Adnan Yasin has got it right, they not been impressed Eshan Edil with Kokobura ball

Waqar hasn't really got some good words for Rahat

I wouldnt take waqars words seriously. He is a joke commentator.

 

[IAJ]

I have a feeling Rahat Ali will surprise many here.

 

[mastermind_quad]

All the best to both the teams.

Supporting Pakistan this series especially Junaid Khan ...All the best

Congrats Smith .... really extraordinary....

 

[imshally81]

Good Toss to Lose

 

[shah_1]

Is Rahat Ali quick?

Why is waqar saying that he is medium pace bowler

 

[the Great Khan]

Risky to play rahat but im hoping he desyroys em..

 

[Luton Bad Boy]

100 tests as captain for Smith.....Monumental achievement and one that is not likely to be surpassed in the near future...

Congratulations BIFF

 

[HASHAM2]

Rahat pace is 140kph Average
Waqar not seen his Bowling

 

[adnan yasin]

Rahat ali is about to bowl in few mins time so relax and we can see ourselves

 

[shaykh1985]

Peoples choice Rahat Ali gets the nod...lets see if hes actually deserving of all this hype hes been given on here...

I'm intrigued...

 

[Azlan Khan]

Umar Gul to start off. Here we go.

 

[IAJ]

Is Rahat Ali quick?

Why is waqar saying that he is medium pace bowler

He is quick. But we will have to wait and see how quick.

 

[IAJ]

Umar Gul with new ball

 

[Red Devil]

Why on earth is Gull taking the new ball

 

[Azlan Khan]

Ball swinging both ways.

 

[shah_1]

good keeping bhai

 

[Luton Bad Boy]

Junaid and Umar Gul to share the new ball...

 

[Azlan Khan]

Smith off the mark, South Africa off the mark. 1/0.

 

[adnan yasin]

as Mr smith plays with the close bat .... he might be troubled with outswingers and of cutters early on

 

[hur rizvi]

Not much swing for Gul

 

[Azlan Khan]

Extra bounce + Swing.

 

[adnan yasin]

come on Gullaa... bowl outside off with that length

 

[shah_1]

Good start by Gul

 

[TM Riddle]

lol decent grass on the pitch.

 

[adnan yasin]

Why on earth is Gull taking the new ball

i m surprised as well

 

[Azlan Khan]

End of the first over. South Africa 1/0.

 

[shah_1]

Let see how Junaid does with the new ball

 

[iafzal]

lol decent grass on the pitch.

must be the seniority disease Pak team suffers from

 

[Red Devil]

Junaid to start the new over

 

[Azlan Khan]

Junaid Khan to share the new ball and straight away an outswinger.

 

[shah_1]

what with junaid Facial hairs, he keep changing it

 

[waqar goraya]

Need to dismiss them around 150 to make it competitive...

 

[rockers2012]

SA is in for a big score. There is nothing in the pitch. See off a few overs and they are good to go

 

[360master]

what with junaid Facial hairs, he keep changing it

Why does it matter? Already finding something to complain about

 

[karachiite]

Not much bounce in the wicket so far. This type of wicket is tailor made Asif. He would have been deadly on this.

 

[waqar goraya]

Need to make use of the new ball and bowling conditions quickly...

 

[shah_1]

Junaid Khan is wayward

 

[Munna]

struggling in finding the right line in this over

 

[iafzal]

pitch looks pretty ordinary from the first 2 overs

 

[hur rizvi]

Movement for Junaid, Needs to get his line right

 

[Azlan Khan]

South Africa 2/0.

 

[waqar goraya]

Poor first 2 overs so far

 

[malakian]

No Irfan? Pfft.

Great opening over by the mighty Junaid btw! )

 

[Luton Bad Boy]

South Africa have the batsmen and quality to grit out an early seam movement and play big innings....see Smith, Kallis, Amla and ABDV

 

[IAJ]

They are bowling on legs here

 

[Akmal Dynasty]

Smith facing gul.

 

[hur rizvi]

Poor line from Gul

 

[GLORY OF '92]

Poor bowling

 

[waqar goraya]

Still not a single good ball bowled till now

 

[shah_1]

Junaid khan has been wayward, need to get his line and length right

 

[Akmal Dynasty]

136KPH by gul.

 

[Bashira_taeli]

Really poor 2 overs.

 

[malakian]

lol decent grass on the pitch.

Shhh, don't tell Rehman.

 

[talha3]

No Irfan? Pfft.

Great opening over by the mighty Junaid btw! )

I believe they call it a 'loosener'

 

[shah_1]

There is no real venom with the new ball

Harmless

 

[Akmal Dynasty]

Gul is a crappy test match bowler...Spinners won't hide his shortcomings here.

 

[Red Devil]

Pollock saying most its the most disappointing news of the day for him that Irfans not playing

 

[Munna]

no daemons so far in this pitch and from our first 3 overs!

 

[zeikz123]

pitch does look quite ordinary .. hope the bowlers persist with good line and lengths

 

[shah_1]

You need to let them play, till now they are wasting the new ball