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In our latest opinion piece, we review the Test series opener in Abu Dhabi
by Fram Hansotia (20th October 2013)
Temperamental, and mercurially talented: that seems to be an apt description of the Pakistan cricket team. One month ago, the team suffered a humiliating 24-run defeat at the hands of lowly-ranked Zimbabwe. Now, a month later, they stand victorious after consistently outplaying South Africa - the highest ranked Test team in the world - over a period of four days. Despite the slight hiccup at the beginning of the run chase, when three wickets were lost cheaply for seven runs, Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan led us to victory, stylishly completed when Misbah emphatically thumped Robin Peterson over his head for a straight six. In that one shot, Misbah exemplified the sheer confidence and superior quality of cricket that his team played over the previous four days. Pakistan did not seem to enjoy being favourites against Zimbabwe, and seemed to embrace the “underdog” tag against South Africa. Interestingly, the last four games played by a number 1 ranked side in the UAE have all ended in convincing Pakistani victories.
Unexpectedly, the architects of Pakistan’s historic win - only their fourth in Tests against South Africa - were the openers: the inexperienced Khurram Manzoor partnered by the debutant Shan Masood. Younger Pakistanis find it difficult to recall a time when the team has had a pair of openers who have been successful for a long period of time. Frankly, no opening pair has been able to reproduce the success of Aamir Sohail’s opening partnership with the stylish Saeed Anwar, which laid many reputable bowling attacks to the sword in the 1990s. Refreshingly, in the last Test match, the latest opening partnership turned out to be a success and the team managed to escape the stigma of having weak openers. Like the Sohail-Anwar partnership, the Manzoor Masood partnership was also a right hand – left hand combination, but comparisons must stop there. The opening pair exhibited their potential in the 135 run partnership in the first innings; now, their talent must be nurtured carefully. The selectors must handle this inexperienced pair appropriately, and not allow them to squander their talent as so many young Pakistani players have done in the past.
Khurram Manzoor’s run of form continued, as he followed his twin fifties in Harare with a commanding century here in Abu Dhabi, which earned him the Man of the Match award. In addition to his gutsy, commendable batting, he displayed his combativeness by blowing kisses at a visibly frustrated and wicketless Dale Steyn.
Shan Masood shone on his debut against a high-class bowling attack, and seems to be a talented young cricketer with a lot of potential, displayed in his stylish 75 in the first innings. Interestingly, though, Masood became only the third Pakistani cricketer to score a 50 and a duck on debut, an interesting statistic that appropriately conveys how fickle form can be and that one should never rest on ones laurels.
Hopefully, this pair will come into their own, and make the opening positions theirs to keep. The most significant difference between the two sides was that the Pakistani openers put together a partnership of 135 runs in their first innings, while the South Africans scored just 6 runs before the loss of their first wicket.
Just as vital as the number of runs scored, was the WAY the openers scored. They played positively and were always keen to take singles, rotating the strike. This ensured the scoreboard kept ticking over at a reasonable rate, thereby preventing South Africa from being able to build up and sustain pressure on the batsmen. The positive batting of the Pakistani batsmen was reflected in the fact that their run rate per over was greater than 3 in both their innings, whilst South Africa's was less than 3 in both their innings. Not only did Pakistan score more runs than their opponents, but they scored them faster, encouraging the possibility of a positive result.
A strong batting performance is not traditionally associated with Pakistani sides but, barring Younis Khan and Azhar Ali, every single batsman contributed to a first innings total of 442; no mean feat against the high-quality South African attack.
The uncharacteristically solid batting performance was sandwiched between two excellent bowling performances. The bowlers bowled well as a unit, hunting the high-profile South African batsman in pairs. That they managed to dismiss the highly experienced and respected South African batting team for less than 250 runs in consecutive innings speaks volumes about the quality and consistency of Pakistan’s bowling. Junaid Khan and Mohammad Irfan, and then Saeed Ajmal and Zulfiqar Babar, bowled in tandem, skillfully and effectively. Irfan's extra bounce was the undoing of South Africa's top three in their first innings, and Junaid Khan's skill and nippy bowling accounted for JP Duminy, AB de Villiers, and Jacques Kallis (twice, cheaply).
The pacers were ably supported by the right-left hand combination of Ajmal and Babar who bowled consistently and accurately, spinning a web around the South African batsmen and slowing down the scoring rate, creating the scoreboard pressure that led to some rash shots.
Although the collective team performance impressed, the main causes for concern were Azhar Ali's continuing poor run of form and that the bowlers allowed Robin Peterson to help create a lead for South Africa in their second innings, when they could have lost the match by an innings!
Fittingly, Misbah-ul-Haq finally scored his fourth Test century, pushing a total meandering towards 350 past the 400 mark. He, simultaneously, took a South African victory out of the equation while proving his naysayers wrong yet again. His innings rammed Pakistan's advantage home, and was a major factor in South Africa's first Test defeat since 2011, ending their longest unbeaten sequence of 15 Test matches. His captaincy impressed, and he rotated his bowlers to good effect. He also showed he can bat according to different situations, accelerating in the fourth innings chase, displaying his ability to hit the ball cleanly and powerfully. He finished the match with a towering six, straight over Robin Peterson’s head, an emphatic statement to end a match in which his team had the upper hand in almost every session, and fully deserved to win the Test!
What will be interesting to see now is whether the Proteas can show their resilience and win the second Test to draw the series, or will Pakistan ride the crest of this triumphant wave and earn a series victory!
Unexpectedly, the architects of Pakistan’s historic win - only their fourth in Tests against South Africa - were the openers: the inexperienced Khurram Manzoor partnered by the debutant Shan Masood. Younger Pakistanis find it difficult to recall a time when the team has had a pair of openers who have been successful for a long period of time. Frankly, no opening pair has been able to reproduce the success of Aamir Sohail’s opening partnership with the stylish Saeed Anwar, which laid many reputable bowling attacks to the sword in the 1990s. Refreshingly, in the last Test match, the latest opening partnership turned out to be a success and the team managed to escape the stigma of having weak openers. Like the Sohail-Anwar partnership, the Manzoor Masood partnership was also a right hand – left hand combination, but comparisons must stop there. The opening pair exhibited their potential in the 135 run partnership in the first innings; now, their talent must be nurtured carefully. The selectors must handle this inexperienced pair appropriately, and not allow them to squander their talent as so many young Pakistani players have done in the past.
Khurram Manzoor’s run of form continued, as he followed his twin fifties in Harare with a commanding century here in Abu Dhabi, which earned him the Man of the Match award. In addition to his gutsy, commendable batting, he displayed his combativeness by blowing kisses at a visibly frustrated and wicketless Dale Steyn.
Shan Masood shone on his debut against a high-class bowling attack, and seems to be a talented young cricketer with a lot of potential, displayed in his stylish 75 in the first innings. Interestingly, though, Masood became only the third Pakistani cricketer to score a 50 and a duck on debut, an interesting statistic that appropriately conveys how fickle form can be and that one should never rest on ones laurels.
Hopefully, this pair will come into their own, and make the opening positions theirs to keep. The most significant difference between the two sides was that the Pakistani openers put together a partnership of 135 runs in their first innings, while the South Africans scored just 6 runs before the loss of their first wicket.
Just as vital as the number of runs scored, was the WAY the openers scored. They played positively and were always keen to take singles, rotating the strike. This ensured the scoreboard kept ticking over at a reasonable rate, thereby preventing South Africa from being able to build up and sustain pressure on the batsmen. The positive batting of the Pakistani batsmen was reflected in the fact that their run rate per over was greater than 3 in both their innings, whilst South Africa's was less than 3 in both their innings. Not only did Pakistan score more runs than their opponents, but they scored them faster, encouraging the possibility of a positive result.
A strong batting performance is not traditionally associated with Pakistani sides but, barring Younis Khan and Azhar Ali, every single batsman contributed to a first innings total of 442; no mean feat against the high-quality South African attack.
The uncharacteristically solid batting performance was sandwiched between two excellent bowling performances. The bowlers bowled well as a unit, hunting the high-profile South African batsman in pairs. That they managed to dismiss the highly experienced and respected South African batting team for less than 250 runs in consecutive innings speaks volumes about the quality and consistency of Pakistan’s bowling. Junaid Khan and Mohammad Irfan, and then Saeed Ajmal and Zulfiqar Babar, bowled in tandem, skillfully and effectively. Irfan's extra bounce was the undoing of South Africa's top three in their first innings, and Junaid Khan's skill and nippy bowling accounted for JP Duminy, AB de Villiers, and Jacques Kallis (twice, cheaply).
The pacers were ably supported by the right-left hand combination of Ajmal and Babar who bowled consistently and accurately, spinning a web around the South African batsmen and slowing down the scoring rate, creating the scoreboard pressure that led to some rash shots.
Although the collective team performance impressed, the main causes for concern were Azhar Ali's continuing poor run of form and that the bowlers allowed Robin Peterson to help create a lead for South Africa in their second innings, when they could have lost the match by an innings!
Fittingly, Misbah-ul-Haq finally scored his fourth Test century, pushing a total meandering towards 350 past the 400 mark. He, simultaneously, took a South African victory out of the equation while proving his naysayers wrong yet again. His innings rammed Pakistan's advantage home, and was a major factor in South Africa's first Test defeat since 2011, ending their longest unbeaten sequence of 15 Test matches. His captaincy impressed, and he rotated his bowlers to good effect. He also showed he can bat according to different situations, accelerating in the fourth innings chase, displaying his ability to hit the ball cleanly and powerfully. He finished the match with a towering six, straight over Robin Peterson’s head, an emphatic statement to end a match in which his team had the upper hand in almost every session, and fully deserved to win the Test!
What will be interesting to see now is whether the Proteas can show their resilience and win the second Test to draw the series, or will Pakistan ride the crest of this triumphant wave and earn a series victory!