JOHANNESBURG, Feb 14: Pakistan faltered in the field and paid a heavy price for that as South Africa after being 166 for 8 recovered to finish the first day's play in the first Test at the Wanderers in a relatively strong position having made 296 for 8.
The two tail-enders Pat Symcox and Mark Boucher flogged the tired Pakistan attack in the final session of the match to set a new record ninth wicket stand. The two put on 130 only six short of an all time South African record for the ninth wicket made against England at The Oval in 1935.
Pat Symcox made a blistering unbeaten 77, the highest at number 10 by any South African and his partner, wicket-keeper Boucher was undefeated with 50. Symcox had hit 13 fours in 136 minutes stay and Boucher in his 50 had four fours and a six. Boucher was one of many who enjoyed the luxury of Pakistan's lapses in the field and he was dropped twice off Mushtaq Ahmed and Waqar Younis by Aamir Sohail in the first slip and by Mohammad Wasim in the second slip.
Shaun Pollock and Andrew Hudson had their share of luck too. They were dropped when 10 and 8 off Shoaib Akhtar when South Africa had not even reached 120 by Aamir Sohail and substitute Yousuf Youhana and Pakistan had to wait to get rid of the stand till another 53 runs were added for the sixth wicket. Pollock made 21 and Hudson. Pakistan had struck consistent blow after South Africa resumed in the second session at 75 for 2 after being put in. At tea the home team was reduced to 160 for 7 and the end looked imminent. But patchy fielding spoiled all the good work done by Waqar Younis, Shoaib Akhtar and Mushtaq Ahmed who all had their moment of success.
In the seventh over Pakistan had their first success as Waqar Younis dismissed Gary Kirsten with a lifting delivery when Azhar Mahmood took a simple catch at gully. Jacques Kallis was the next to go off Shoaib Akhtar for 15 but Adam Bacher defied strongly to make 46 but then wicket fell and Pakistan took control as Waqar dismissed both Bacher and Daryll Cullinan within short space. And later Mushtaq made inroads to put Pakistan in a commanding position with the wickets of Herschel Gibbs, Hudson and Klusener but that was all Pakistan could manage before Symcox and Boucher settled in to establish a record stand for South Africa.
Pakistan will obviously regret to let South Africa loose after they had them by the scruff of the neck. On the second day Pakistan's first task will be to dislodge what now looks like a threatening stand and then bat with a lot of determination to come back in the game.
Day 2: Pakistan batting buckles under pressure
JOHANNESBURG, Feb 15: Pakistan batting wilted under pressure after they managed to bowl South Africa out on the second morning for 364 in their first innings of the first Test.
The frustration of lapses on the field showed as their openers Aamir Sohail and Saeed Anwar walked out to bat for the three overs that were possible before lunch. The pair were dismissed in successive overs after lunch with only 15 runs on the board and that made the day even more frustrating. Aamir Sohail, the captain had the misfortune of being on the receiving end of a poor decision by umpire Cyril Mitchley who adjudged him caught at the wicket off Shaun Pollock of the side of his shirt when 12 but Saeed Anwar struggling for runs had played an ambitious drive off Allan Donald in the next over to follow Sohail in the dressing room for 2.
Not happy start under the circumstances, Pakistan were then rescued by Mohammad Wasim and Ijaz Ahmed who shared 72 very useful runs for the third wicket to salvage a dwindling innings. Wasim played delightful drives in front of the wicket and looked in stunning form but then an awkward delivery from Lance Klusener induced an evasive action and that proved fatal as Wasim was caught at the wicket by Mark Boucher when 44 having hit 8 fours. And not much later Inzamamul-Haq, the main in form was beaten by Klusener's outgoing delivery that left him and hit the off stump. Inzamam had not scored and that was a bit of huge setback for Pakistan.
This left Ijaz Ahmed and Moin Khan repair the damage. Thankfully for Pakistan rain came to the rescue and because of it two hours and forty minutes were lost. Pakistan had also the disadvantage of batting under floodlight which surely was not much help when the red ball is used instead of the usual white ball in one-day cricket. When play resumed after the delay, it had to be stopped because the lights made batting difficult as the red ball whizzed past them. Another inspection resulted in the abandonment of the second day's play.
Ijaz with 33 and Moin with 5 were at the crease. The two will now have to bat with lot of guts when play resumes on the third day. They would need 96 more runs to avoid the follow on and that could be daunting prospect with Pollock, Donald and Klusener fresh in the morning. From 106 for 4 Pakistan has to go a long way to come back in the game.
Earlier on South African tail-enders made their score look even more respectable as Pat Symcox and Mark Boucher continued in a similar vain as on the first day to devastate Pakistan attack.
It took Pakistan an hour and forty minutes on the second day to dislodge the remaining two wickets and bowl South Africa out for 364 runs. but not before 68 more runs were added to the overnight 296 and a new record for the ninth wicket was established. The two not out batsmen Pat Symcox and Mark Boucher who had already added 130 runs at the end of the first day added seven more runs in the morning to get past the best South African stand of 137 made against England in 935 by Chud Langton and Eric Dalton at The Oval and then aiming for the best ever ninth wicket stand of 190 in Tests they were past it as well.
Asif Iqbal and Intikhab Alam had held it for 30 years when in 1967 they flogged the England attack to a record stand after Pakistan were reduced to 65 for 8. Asif then had made 146 and Intikhab 51. But before the record book was re-written, Symcox 77 overnight reached his first over Test century with a single off Azhar Mahmood. His previous best being 81 in Tests. His hundred was studded with 15 fours in 221 minutes batting and he had faced 151 balls in a fighting innings which frustrated Pakistan attack.
Batting at number ten he thus became the only third man in Test history to make a century W.W. Read was the first when he made 117 against Australia at The Oval in 1884 and R.A. Duff 104 was made for Australia at the MCG in 1902. Symcox having reached his century was soon out when he pulled Saqlain Mushtaq to mid-on and Shoaib Akhtar held on to the catch with Symcox on 108 and the partnership worth 195. There were 17 fours in his innings. He walked out to a standing ovation and he deserved it fully.
Three runs later Saqlain also ended Boucher defiant and at times attacking innings of 78 when Boucher swept and got the up edge to short fine leg where Mohammad Wasim took the catch. Boucher innings contained 9 fours and a six and he had stayed at the crease for 265 minutes having faced 161 balls.
Day 4: Rain washes out 4th day's play
JOHANNESBURG, Feb 17: There was no play on the fourth day of the first cricket Test against South Africa today at the Wanderers as incessant rain continued to pour down making the outfield soggy and unplayable.
Bad light and unfit playing conditions soon after Pakistan were all out for 329 in reply to South Africa's 364 on the third afternoon had this threat already as clouds burst and lightening struk all night. Pakistan had done well before it all happened and trailed only by 35 runs as Azhar Mahmood scored his second Test century (136) in a defiant fashion.
On the fourth morning today the two teams stayed in their hotel rooms instead of coming to the ground and at 12.45 play had to be called off. Any possibility of the play resuming tomorrow the last day depends on the weather conditions but there seems to be no possibility of a result. The two teams will now have to wait itll the second Test starts on Feb 26 at Kingsmead in Durban.
Day 5: Rain-hit Johannesburg Test ends in draw
JOHANNESBURG, Feb 18: The first Test between South Africa and Pakistan came to its inevitable and predictable conclusion as it ended in a draw because of rain and bad light.
After the fourth day's play was abandoned without a ball being bowled it was clear then that the game would fizzle out without a result. That is exactly what happened on the fifth day when the play somehow got going.
South Africa managed to score 44 runs in 10.3 overs in their second innings as the match was interrupted three time because of bad light could, manage. Umpires Cyril Mitchley and Peter decided to finally call off the farcical Test in which 242 overs were lost because of poor weather conditions.
Gary Kirsten and Adam Bacher, who had come to o-en their second innings on the third evening after Pakistan had recovered and reached 329, had to go back in the dressing room without a ball faced. Even on the final day as they came in the umpires ruled that the floodlight under the light sky had not improved the general playing conditions. When play finally resumed at 11.34 a.m. it lasted for only 50 minutes more before once again they had to retire to the pavilion. The openers scored 44 runs in 0.1 overs. Gary Kirsten and Adam Bacher had then made 20 each. In the delayed start after lunch only two more balls were bowled and once again the players had to leave the field because of the insufficient light.
Both Aamir Sohail and Gary Kirsten agreed later after the match was called off that the ICC has got to rethink about the this new rule concerning the floodlight used in the Tests. Things are different in one day games when the white ball is used and the screens are black.
The dismissal of Mohammad Wasim and Inzamam-ul-Haq in the Test when the light was on was due to floodlight, said Aamir Sohail. They did not see the ball. Gary Kirsten also implied that the wicket was not of much help either as it had a variable bounce from the start of the first day. It could have been an interesting Test match but for the weather and floodlight, said Kirsten.
The Pakistan team is now much more confident after having recovered from the trauma of the mugging incident and also recovering from an early collapse to compile 329 to South Africa's 364. We did well to recover with Azhar and Moin Khan playing very important role, said Aamir Sohail.
Rashid Latif, the Pakistan captain also appeared to talk to the press before the play was finally called off and reassured the media that the tour will go ahead and stress and appealed to the media to concentrate on cricket rather than rumour-mongering. The allegations against the players by the media that they were not telling the truth was condemned by the Pakistan captain. We stand by our original statement that the boys were mugged outside the hotel, there is no other story to it as implied by a certain section of the media. We have no reasons to lie. He said.
The disturbing news, however for Rashid Latif is that he may have to have an operation to his neck which has two displaced discs. Dr Ali Bacher, the Managing Director of the UCBSA, disclosed that Latif will go to Bloemfontien with the team but if he feels any discomfort he may have to come back to Johannesburg on Monday for a consultation and in case of operation he may have to miss the second Test as well.
``I may be out for ten days because I am not improving. I will have to have an operation then,'' a disappointed Pakistan captain told the waiting press. Not much later match referee came with his verdict of how the match went in and fined Pakistan 60 per cent of the match fee for bowling nine overs short in the first innings and south Africa, for bowling four overs short, were fined 20 per cent of the match fee.