Pak v. Aus

First topic message reminder :

In UAE..it's a good series......only 3ODIs and I believe 3 tests.

Saw the Pak bowling in the T20 and though they lost.......they have amazing talent in bowling...a new SLA who flights well, turns it big and has a very deceptive arm ball that actually turns into the RHB.

and Mohd Irfan was effortlessly bowling at 148kph.
the first ODI is underway now.

Aussie batting with AJ Finch, DA Warner, SPD Smith, GJ Bailey*, GJ Maxwell, JP Faulkner, BJ Haddin†

looks like a T20 line-up....missing the solidity and inning building capabilty

Good first hour for Australia as Rogers and Smith bat through without any real alarms.

I do admire Rogers :he has been struggling for form in this match but he won't surrender his wicket easily. Starting to look a bit more comfortable (hopefully that won't hex him ! )

Australia need these two to bat at least half the day I reckon , if they're to have a chance of escaping. Big ask.

Very well done Alfie. Couldn't have jinxed it any better myself.

Very good ball to get him out. Not the greatest amount of reverse, but you don't have to swing it corners to get the dismissal.

Oh hell ! Sorry Chris...

My hex did for him in about two minutes ! Good ball from Imran but still a bit of a surprise.

Tough for Australia now.

A sharp catch at silly point sees an end to his first Test for young Marsh.
Not an altogether convincing debut ; I see Ian Chappell has a piece in the paper today in which he praises the young man's prospects rather strongly ...maybe. I will reserve judgement.

Fat lady is warming up.

Haddin didn't hold them up long.

Zulfiqar has been quite impressive in this match : gives it a good rip ; and varies it enough to suggest he may be handy even on pitches that don't help him as much as this.

2-0 Pakistan series win was my predos. Halfway now

So lunch at 117/7

Smith has resisted well ; but he hasn't had many mates. Shouldn't think it will take too long after the break - Johnson doesn't look too secure.
Pakistan will enjoy their lunch.

kingraf wrote:2-0 Pakistan series win was my predos. Halfway now

Well , technically , not quite halfway...

But I think your claim isn't unreasonable. Not prepared to concede the second match result yet : Australia will be keen to fight back. I believe they have the spirit , under Lehmann ; whether they have the skills remains to be seen.
Pakistan have been very impressive. Even their fielding has been sharp

The Aussas may survive this.

Never mind. Spinners are on. Saddle reading it as well as I read mandarin

Johnson gone with a sharp sharp sharp piece of keeping. Had that been an Akmal...

Aussies battled well today...but they were never likely to survive the whole day, especially after that clump of wickets in the morning.
Pakistan spinners deserve credit ...they made the pitch look more dangerous to bat on than it probably was. Comfortably out bowled Lyon and O'Keefe.

Aussies will be desperate to come back in the second Test ...haven't long to get their heads together. Winning the toss might help.

Congrats Pakistan

lyon, siddle, doolan should be dropped. They are simply not good enough for test cricket.

Superb by Pakistan.

well there were two knock out blows for Aus....


1) Losing the Toss. You are up and against the moment your lose the toss on these subcontinental pitches.


2) that WK getting a freak 100 off 80 balls. Had he even scored a 200 ball hundred he would have eaten 20 more overs.


Australia's total of 520 odd runs in 2 innings ain't bad.....if they win the toss next game and bat first...with the sme number of total runs tehy might win the test in a close affair.

and as I wrote earlier...hats off to the depth of Pakistan bowling resources...they neither cry nor crib over, spilt milk banned seamers and spinners who are amongst the top-5 in the world.....not the injured ones...nor the captaincy and retirement melodrama that is played in their team, dressing room or with the board....

The mercurial talent(s) they have in such great depths and especially in bowling.......and the burning desire to play...just simply play...with passion and pride....that they can come up effortless wins against the top sides.

nevertheless Pakistan's sterner test would be if they lose the toss and have to chase.......would be a tight unpredictable game then

well Aus lost the toss again and will bat last.... and with that an even chance before the toss drops to a third in my view for Aus here,

the good move the've made......Maxwell in for Keefe
can't bowl worse than Keefe and can be a game changer with the bat. I am always a proponent for brining in such dashing game changers into  test cricket......

On his part Maxwell should not get carried away too much by the fact that this is a test match......but rather play his natural game.

and I see Aus have Starc also who can in a 30 ball inning easily smash 50 runs.......so visibly Aus has tried to use the Flower/ Dhoni Formula "Pick fast bowlers who can bat or batsmen who can bowl slow spin"

4th inning will be too difficult to catch up......if they have to win...Aus must come out superior in the battle of first innings.

I understand your theory , KP f .

But that batting lineup looks a bit skinny to me : Rogers and Clarke out of form ; Haddin struggling , Marsh and Maxwell hardly established as Test players - looks a lot of expectation on Warner and Smith.
Tail potentially bats well ; but arguably rather more tail than body...

We will see. But it looks too "bits and pieces" to me.

Another century for the run machine

Younus Khan would like to take this Australian attack around with him

Hasn't messed about either : 106 from 130 balls !

Great move to drop him from the ODI team...

290-2 Pakistan with 4 overs to go in the day....and the game all but gone for Aus.

Younis Khan nearing 37 but flickering bright like the end of the candle

Younus putting together a masterclass here. Surely close to being the best Batter Pakistan ever produced*?

*I expect this notion to be treated with the same response as my Chanderpaul one.

kingraf wrote:Younus putting together a masterclass here. Surely close to being the best Batter Pakistan ever produced*?

*I expect this notion to be treated with the same response as my Chanderpaul one.

dunno the story of responses to the Chaderpaul one.....

Younis is definitely one of the best batsman Pakistan has produced........although when I met and took pictures with him at the dubai airport last year...I flattered him by calling him the "best ever from pakistan"  
In reality though Hanif Mohammed, Zaheer Abbas, Miandad, Youhana and Inzy all would be contenders for the "Best Ever" Pakistani batsman

easy for Pakistan...worryingly easy for Australia, given the hype over their bowling attack...dont really see the point of Starc playing in this match though to be honest..

4 tests in India and 2 tests here.......about 4 tests against Swann on dry English pitches......Aus are WEAK against spin , on slow spinning pitches

Pak 467-3.......Younis nearing a double hundred and Misbah nears his 100
Clarke seems to have put on a "Dhoni-Mode" and given up using part-time slow bowlers for nearly 25 overs now

just noticed Misbah is 40+ and with him as a refrence Younis can play on for 3 more years

Australia, chasing 371 just to avoid the follow on, have just lost Rogers.
He was c Sarfraz b Imran. Am I stuck in a timewarp, or what ?!

90/3 now and battling.

Lyon has somehow survived so far but Maxwell's attack on the bowling ended on 37 : not sure this take the game to the bowlers style works on these pitches in Test Cricket. Fun while it lasts , but...

Clarke needs some runs - today would be nice.

With Lyon falling for fifteen the top pair of Clarke and Smith are together . With rather a lot to do , one might say...

...which they won't , as Smith falls for a duck on review !

This could be over quickly

100 for 5.....will Pak enforce the follow-on ?

with 3 spinnrs in the side and seamers not doing much bowling so far and not likely to be used much in second inning also....I think the follow-on will be enforced especially if it's a big lead like 300ish

WTF was Maxwell doing...... 37 from 28 and out..

Well, that escalated quickly.

Pak should have enforced a follow on
they might regret not doing so

Realistically, it's finished as a contest. Maybe in the context of this match, Pakistan should have enforced the follow on, but teams always think bigger picture. It's about the series, and by batting on, Pakistan basically snuff out any chance the Australians had of winning. I'd have done the same.

kingraf wrote:Realistically, it's finished as a contest. Maybe in the context of this match, Pakistan should have enforced the follow on, but teams always think bigger picture. It's about the series, and by batting on, Pakistan basically snuff out any chance the Australians had of winning. I'd have done the same.

On which planet

On which planet what? Highest run chase is 369, Pakistan lead is already over that, add only 100 runs tomorrow and it's nearly 500, for a team which hasn't even scored 300 in the fourth innings. You impose the follow on, and maybe Australia bat better, maybe Warner catches fire for fifty overs, then there's a possibility you have to chase 120-150 in the fourth. Something I'm sure Pakistan would absolutely want to avoid.

Agree with raf , here.

Must admit my own natural instinct would have been to put Australia back in when their spirits were low ; but a hard headed view is that you don't give them even a ghost of a chance : bat again , grind them into the dust.
Pitch remains sound for batting ; fifth day certainly will be the hardest to bat. The Marsh/Siddle stand went on long enough to at least take the edge off the Pakistan bowlers - besides demonstrating the lack of terrors in the pitch. Unlikely as it was , why risk a Warner blitz leaving even a small last day chase ; especially as they lead 1-0 anyway ?

Plus the bowlers have earned a bit of a rest . They have to back up against NZ in a week so no need to run them into the ground.

And I'm sure Younus fancied some more of this Australian bowling : he seems to find it to his taste

Geez talk about the London bus. Younus Khan is properly cashing in. Would be ridiculous if he hits four centuries this series

Seems Azhar Ali is going to become the second batter to score two centuries in a test against Australia in forty years... Like five days after the first.

Ooh, Khan gone, but Ali just thirty away from the double.

Misbah to get the fastest Test fifty of all time, I believe.

Well, that was unforseen...

Just as well though. There was something wrong with a record like that being set aside against Zimbabwe

flower accepted last night they wanted to bat Aus out....what a negative mindset
nevertheless with their second inning they have ground Australian bowling into the ground in this series.

they will come back with a vengeance against India at home

Misbah has seven balls to match or best Richards' record. Come on!

Needs nine in five

Honestly this would be the most ironic record in cricketing history

Needs eight in two, so, it probably won't happen

Jesús he did it. Misbah ul haq of people has matched Viv Richards record.

More impressive, he's got there before Azhar Ali

So, having not done it for forty years, three batsman score twin tons Against Australia in two tests.