SA vs Pakistan 2013

The Pakistan tour of south Africa begins in all earnest tomorrow morning in Johannesburg, The Bull ring has had some famous mathc ups in the past, and I for one am very excited about this test series.

South Africa's test series vs Pakistan is a bit of a venture into the unknown as the last time they played in the UAE the tracks were flat enough to plant corn.

Some stats about these two nations:

Paksitan has recorded two wins out of 9 attemps in South Africa with only one match ending in a draw. I expect all three tests to produce results as both teams have rather strong bowling line ups. Although the SA batting line up has been solid over the past few years there are still some issues that needs to be sorted out. JP Peterson has recovered from his injury to the webbing of his hand. AB de Villiers in conjuntion with Gary Kirsten must make a decision regarding whether he will concentrate on his batting or keep wicket as well.

The young Quinton de Kock in my view is still a tad to inexperienced, so either Tsolikile comes in as care taker for a year or two, until de Kock is ready. The other alternative is AB sticks to his guns if CSA feels it is too little too late to consider Tsolekile as a temporary solution.

Although AB has not been great with the bat, he hasn't disappointed either.

Pakistan have a few injuries themselves and the latest to withdraw is Tafeeq Umar with Imran Farhat his replacement. Pakistan has been the model of unpredictability over the past few years, but might just have turned the conrner into more consistent performances over 2012. They seem to be a team that can run very hot when their confidence is up, and it seems that is the exact mental space they find themselves in presently.

Fortunately for the Proteas, CSA has forgone any tests in Durban this year as their very disappointing record of 4 losses in their last five test series ahs cost them a good number of series wins.

The major factor in this test series will be the strong bowling attacks of both teams.

Expect Umar Gul and Saeed Ajmal to lead the bowling attack for Pakistan and Dale Steyn, Philander and Morkel to lead the South African attack.

Ajmal in 2012 took an incredible 39 wickets at an average of 20.56 in 6 tests during 2012. His series against england was perhaps the catalyst that ground the english confidence to a halt with 24 wickets in three tests. The most important question here is after not playing a test since June last year, will he hit his straps from the start?

When you look at Gul's career stats he doesn't seem very daunting, but when you consider his performance against england last year, and admittedly he hasn't played a test since Middle last year, but if he repeats those performances Pakistan might well put SA under enough pressure to get a win.

when you look at Dale Steyn's record since 2011 you might be thinking he is losing his edge. Yet still firmly ensconced at the top of the bowling rankings and have taken 52 wicket at 25.17 per wicket. If that is what steyn does when he is off form, then I'll put him in my team anyday.

Philander started his career with a bang, his first seven test got 50 wickets, then in england last year he started coming back to earth with some avergae performances, it was to be expected, yu just don't expect any bowler to continue taking a fifer every match. His figures are still very impressive, but there is a chink in his armour. Fitness, he has not yet convinced me he can stand up to the rigours of international cricket in long spells. Little niggling injuries seem to come along once every series.

when you start talking about Morne Morkel I am hoping he has a blinder this series, slowly improving his bowling, with more accurate placing in length and line, he has now managed to get his career average under 30. Centurion and Wanderers should help his bouncers.

Squads.

Pakistan.
Misbah-ul-Haq (c)
Abdur Rehman
Asad Shafiq
Azhar Ali
Ehsan Adil
Faisal Iqbal
Haris Sohail
Junaid Khan
Mohammad Hafeez
Mohammad Irfan
Nasir Jamshed
Rahat Ali
Saeed Ajmal
Sarfraz Ahmed (wk)
Tanvir Ahmed
Umar Gul
Younis Khan
Imran Farhat


South Africa
Graeme Smith (c)
Hashim Amla
AB de Villiers (wk)
Faf du Plessis
Dean Elgar
Imran Tahir
Jacques Kallis
Rory Kleinveldt
Morne Morkel
Alviro Petersen
Robin Peterson
Vernon Philander
Jacques Rudolph
Dale Steyn


Fixtures

February 2013
1 South Africa v Pakistan Test Bidvest Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg 10:30
14 South Africa v Pakistan Test Sahara Park Newlands, Cape Town 10:30
22 South Africa v Pakistan Test SuperSport Park, Centurion 10:30

March 2013
1 South Africa v Pakistan T20I Sahara Stadium Kingsmead, Durban 18:00
3 South Africa v Pakistan T20I SuperSport Park, Centurion 14:30
10 South Africa v Pakistan ODI Chevrolet Park, Bloemfontein 10:00
15 South Africa v Pakistan ODI SuperSport Park, Centurion 14:30
17 South Africa v Pakistan ODI Bidvest Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg 10:00
21 South Africa v Pakistan ODI Sahara Stadium Kingsmead, Durban 10:00
24 South Africa v Pakistan ODI Sahara Willowmoore Park, Benoni 10:00

Umar Gull hasn't been the same force as he is in ODIs. Even in ODIs, he did struggle in the recent 3 match series in India. Junaid Khan is a certain prospect though, and I think he's going to have an impact in this series.
The massively tall Mohammed Irfan should also enjoy the conditions in South Africa, going by the looks of things in the recent India series, he has become a lot more accurate, than he was during his debut in England a couple of years ago.
But the bowler to watch out for from the Pakistan camp, most certainly is Saeed Ajmal. But Ajmal won't have much help from the track, and among the different non-sub-continant sides, the present set of SA batters play spin better than most.
Taufeeq's injury is a huge setback for Pakistan, and I am not sure the Pakistan lineup has the quality to survive long against the quality South African bowling unit in lively conditions.
Philander will be back for SA, and that makes a world of difference, as he won't give them anything to hit, and would keep troubling the batsmen with little bit of consistent movement both ways. The prospect of facing up to Dale Steyn on its own is not a very happy one if you are a batsman, but if you have Vernon Philander bowling from the other end and Morne Morkel scheduled to come in first change, it becomes even more daunting. You don't need to add that big Jacques can come in, bowl 4 or 5 quick overs, and take out one or 2 when his skipper really needs it.
South Africa should take the series, but if there is an absolutely unpredictable team in the cricket world, it has to be Pakistan.

Don't see Pak challenging in SA. Would be a differrent story in the UAE though.

A 3-0 victory for Pakistan in this Test Series, will mean England ascend to No.1.

But that's not going to happen! Should be a comfortable 2-0, maybe even 3-0 series win for the Saffers. Like Shanky says though, it would be a different story in the UAE.

SA-Pak is the series I've really been looking forward to!
Pakistan seems tovhave hardened their batting, while their bowlers have proved class no matter the conditions.
That said, ABDV scored his top score vs this Pakistan team, while it was the victory in Pakistan in 2007 that proved the catalyst for the steady climb of this team, so I doubt we would be beaten even in UAE, so I see a 2-1 or 3-0 victory depending on wether the Newlands pitch is a typical Feb Newlands pitch (slow, and a little dry)

Pakistan batter south africa 3-0 all wins by an innings and 500 runs or my names not David Beckham.

That said I see SA as having the edge and will prob win the series 2-1

Biltong, JP plays rugby, Robin plays cricket. It looks like you are already in rugby mode.

Any way. I can't wait for this to start. Pakistan has a talent for producing very good bowlers.

Luckily we don't play in Durban, otherwise Ajmal would spin us to death.

Sorry mate, I was actually thinking of JP Duminy, and then realised I made a mistake, but then forgot to change the initials as well.

Watching Graeme Smith's interview now. They are celebrating "Biff day" today at Wanderers today, in celebration of him captaining in his 100th test today.

Interesting points.

Smith was talking about how Cronje's tenure as a captain who had too much control and power and CSA wanted to ensure it didn't happen again.

Smith has very limited influence about selections throughout his captaincy.
His preference is that the coach should be the sole selector

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

Elgar keeps his place ahead of Duminy...for now.

i thought Duminy was still injured lol..

He is, but I actually forgot Peterson got injured and when I read that he is returning, I read it at a quick glance, made a mental note of the wrong player.

Rather embarressing.

Now that was a bit of a waste. Smith and Petersen do all the hard work for the first 20 overs and then both lose their wickets in consecutive overs.

CF wrote:i thought Duminy was still injured lol..

That's exactly why he's keeping his place ahead of Elgar...for now.

lol south africa spolit for choice when it comes to batsman...i dont rate Elgar that much to be honest, so IMO Duminy will slot straight back in when fit.

96-2

Amla the run machine is 21*

Kallis out hooking off the bowling of Gul. Excellent diving catch by Shafiq

Time for Hash and AB to take it to Pakistan

Kallis hits a half-century, and then gets out....

SA 159-4 at tea. Younus Khan getting the big wicket of Hashim Amla. AB at the crease, and Faf is with him. They have a job to do in the last session. 1 more strike soon, Pakistan will be a head in the contest.

Hmm. SA not having it all their own way yet...three of the Big Guns out before tea.
However the run machine Du Plessis is now in so I suppose I will wake up tomorrow to a score line of about 310/5...

Faf had a close shave there, a very confident caught behind shout turned down by the umpire, Pakistan refered, it looked close, but eventually there was nothing conclusive, perhaps the sound was that of the batsman hitting his pad.
South Africa 169-4.

ROBBERY the Kumquat is going to get a quintuple century now.

and again but AB gets out to Hafeez

233 - 6
SA batting first at home , apparently Pakistan are a pretty decent unit.

come on lads peterson gone.

No.1, you're having a laugh! No too soon?

In all seriousness, great effort by Pakistan today.

Ouch 253....

Is this the sort of pitch thats going to help Vern keep his silly average or is it just a flump by SA?

Judging by the number of wickets that went down to part time spin on a first day pitch ...I guess flump

4/16 for Hafeez in 7 overs. At least when England struggled with him they had the excuse of playing in the subcontinent!

This is going to be an interesting test.

I see the South African Top 7 have all happily joined the Gautam Gambhir Fans Club!!. Dredful, even Gambhir will struggle to match this effort. All 7 of the top order got starts, all 7 of them gave it away without building on to a propper test match score. Was it Saeed Ajmal who did the damage? Had it been the case, well, we could have understood it better, but it was Hafeez who polished off the lower oder with ease, and Junaid also chipped in, and of course it was Younis Khan who got the big wicket of Amla.
But Credit where its due, the Pakistan regular bowlers really stuck to their task, and both Graeme Smith and Alviro Petersen had to face some real tough time with the new ball. But they both had weathered it and then got out. Kallis and Amla then built a partnership, but both got out playing poor shots, although there was sustained pressure applied by the bowlers. Faf had some close moments, but then he too got after gettin to 40. AB should take the gloves off, let de Kock come in place of Elgar, AB the batsman is so very key in that middle order, and they can't go on with these nothing performances from one of the best in the world.
Pakistan showed their class with the ball, but their batting is not that strong. South Africa do have a splendid bowling unit. Tomorrow should be a very interesting day.

very good day for Pakistan...Hafeez the pick of the bowlers with 4-fer...but Junaid was very impressive, wickets and kept things very tight...SA's batsmen will bbe very dissapointed, all getting starts but none able to go on and get a huge score...

Elgar against spin is laughable...he has one shot against spin, and thats a ugly mow through mid-wicket...

TBF elgars record isnty exactly bad, he certainly stacks up against most of the players england have tried at 6 over the past few years ...and for a number 7 hes as good a bat as Prior.
However if SA have a genuine gloveman who could average in the high 30s it would make real sense to take the pressure off AB and let him get back to his batting.
This is one innings though, against a very handy attack ( as England found out) which isnt backed up by anything like the batting depth SA have. Maybe SA are caught a little cold after the ease with which they dealt with NZ too.
Looking at the SA batting lineup its pretty scary to think you can have a side down 4 wickets and still be faced with 3 specialist batsmen still, 2 of which average above 50...and a number 8 who is pretty handy too. No other side has the depth of real quality SA does. Credit toPakisan for exploiting a bad day at the office.
Im a big fan of the lad Jamshed, pretty harsh to chuck him in as an opener against the best seam attack in world cricket. If he can stand up to Steyn Morkel and Philander then hes earned his stripes from day one. Pakistan will have to bat to their best to put a winning total on.

Game on, its good to see a top side challenged by the underdog. I have a lot of time for the new Pakistan who seem to have exersized their demons and moved on form the corruption and division that dogged their team for years. Even with half a team banned or exiled they have actually improved dramatically, pity for NZ they didnt have that depth of talent.

I was at the Wanderers today. Wicket didnt loom too bad, just a few silly shots and decent bowling.

Faf du Plessis' dismissal looks bad on TV, but in real-time it was a horror as it happened so slow.

Pakistan has always had a capable bowling line-up. As England found out at home and away. The problem is theit batsmen, this looks a typical Wanderers deck, Steyn and co should feast.

All in all, other than ab unsavoury racial incident on my way out, today was a good days Test cricket.

PS. I only came to watch Irfan, couldnt someone have mentioned that he wasnt playing? Also, because I was at the ground, I dont know the reason for his ommission. Any one know?

Expect Pak batsmen to struggle big time against SA in these conditions.

Steyn had a very good spell now 8/3

How interesting, Pakistan 39/7! SA might have a chance of enforcing the follow-on after only making 253.

As I predicted Pakistan's batsmen thrive on piling on the runs on flat tracks.

Get them on a juicy pitch and they are clueless.

There's no point scoring all your runs on flat pancakes and getting humiliated everytime you play outside Asia.

ShankyCricket wrote:Expect Pak batsmen to struggle big time against SA in these conditions.

good call

The record breaking Dale Steyn equals Allan Donald's South African Test record of 20 5 wicket hauls.

Donald achieved it in 72 Tests
Steyn has done it in 63 Tests.

Proteas destroy Pakistan for 49.

Pakistan's lowest ever Test score.

Dale Steyn 6-8, best figures in SA.

Looks like we are not going to enforce the follow on. We scared of spin?

Hats off to Steyn

Bit there for the bowlers , but looking at it yesterday you'd never have said anyone could be shot out for 49 !

Didn't see a ball today yet , but that must have been some bowling effort !

alfie wrote:Hats off to Steyn

Bit there for the bowlers , but looking at it yesterday you'd never have said anyone could be shot out for 49 !

Didn't see a ball today yet , but that must have been some bowling effort !

Steyn was on fire. Philander also bowled quite well as did Kallis. Morkel bowled the first bad ball only in the 18th over I think. And there weren't much after that.

The epitome of tough luck.

You bowl the opposition out for 250 and fail to get past the follow on mark.

The epitome of good luck.

You don't get to follow on.

Last time Smith didn't enforce the follow on we drew, from what I can remember. But that wasn't nearly this early and it rained. Don't think this one will be rained out

Bit surprised no follow on .

Suppose with the weather presumably set fair Smith can afford to give his bowlers a rest and set them six hundred to win or two days to bat...even so I think I'd have gone for the throat.

The way the pitch looks, 300 will be extremely difficult to chase. Luckily we are almost there. I would want a total of 450-550is

Best batting strike rate and best bowling strike rate!

Kudos to Steyn. Just another champagne moment in his career.

SA collapsing - losing 2 wickets for five runs! But I expect them to win at a canter....Kallis only got 50 in the first innings. Due a big score?