LAHORE, 10 October 2007 — South Africa made a stunning comeback yesterday to pin down Pakistan’s explosive reply on the second day of the second test.
The home team, trailing 1-0 in the two-match series, was 140-4 at stumps after South African tailenders hung in earlier in the day to post a respectable first innings score of 357. Inzamam-ul-Haq (10), playing in his farewell Test, and Misbah-ul-Haq (10) were at the crease when bad light stopped play eight overs before scheduled close.
Inzamam — who opted out of the first Test that Pakistan lost by 160 runs last week — had an emotional arrival at the wicket. All 11 South African players lined up close to the wicket to applaud the 37-year-old former Pakistan captain. “I think the boys had talked about this (guard of honor) in the dressing room, but when Inzy came out it was more like a spontaneous reaction from them,” coach Mickey Arthur said.
“I am proud of the boys the way they welcomed Inzy,” he added.
Openers Kamran Akmal (52 off 64 balls) and Salman Butt (40 off 68 balls) made a spirited start of 90 runs off 124 balls before Pakistan lost three wickets in the space of nine runs. Butt top-edged lanky left-arm spinner Paul Harris and Smith took his second catch when he dived forward and hung onto Akmal’s uppish drive in the covers.
Andre Nel knocked back Younis Khan’s (3) off-stump and Mohammad Yousuf (25), who missed the first test on fitness grounds, played across and was adjudged lbw, giving paceman Dale Steyn his 50th Test wicket.
“We attacked a bit more with the new ball, but after that I think we have done the right things,” Arthur said.
Earlier, Mark Boucher made a resilient 54 and Harris scored a career test best of 46 to spoil Pakistan’s attempt at restricting the visitors. The pair put together a crucial 88-run eighth wicket partnership and defied Pakistan bowlers for two hours and forty minutes on either side of the first two sessions. Paceman Umar Gul (3-103) got a much-needed breakthrough when Harris played a loose drive after lunch and spooned a catch to captain Shoaib Malik in the covers. Harris hit six boundaries in his 132-ball knock. Danish Kaneria (4-114) then clean bowled Steyn without scoring before Boucher completed his 26th Test half century with a pulled six off of Gul. Boucher, who completed his patient half century in 3-1/2 hours, was the last man to go when he attempted a big shot off Kaneria and Abdul Rehman took a head high catch at the long on boundary.
Boucher received solid support from No. 9 batsman Harris, who braved a bouncer from paceman Mohammad Asif that struck him on the ear. South Africa lost Nel in Gul’s first over of the day before adding a run to its overnight score of 259-6. Gul bowled a short delivery and Nel gloved a simple catch to Misbah-ul-Haq close to the wicket.
However, Boucher and Harris then took charge and defied not only Pakistan pacemen but also kept the two spinners — Kaneria and Rehman — at bay as South Africa progressed to 322-7 in the first session.
Pakistan Open Door
to Foreign Players
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is to allow foreign players into its domestic tournaments from this season in a bid to lift the standard of competition for local players.
Shafiq Ahmed, who heads the PCB domestic cricket committee, said the board had introduced a clause for the first time which allows teams to sign foreign players.
“We have allowed this for the first time. But we have to wait and see what response we get. We have to see if our teams can manage to hire any foreign players,” Ahmed said.
Ahmed said the board was hopeful of some foreigners appearing in the Twenty20 Cup, which will be held early next year.
The PCB announced a busy domestic program last week which starts from Oct. 20 and runs into March 2008.
“The idea is to encourage the teams not only to depend on board grants but also arrange for sponsorship and try to hire foreign players. We have increased the prize money for events as well,” Ahmed said.
Pakistan’s domestic Twenty20 tournament launched two years ago has been a roaring success and the board has made it more or less mandatory for all its top players to appear in the competition.
The board has earmarked around 80 million rupees ($1.4 million) in its fiscal year budget for domestic cricket support.
Ahmed said the board wanted to encourage the concept of franchising of the regional teams to support them financially.
