CricketViewer.com

The South Africans touring Pakistan had a satisfying first day of cricket, as they reached an impressive total of 294 runs for the loss of only five wickets in 90 overs, in their three-day warm-up match against a Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Patron’s XI, here at the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) Sports Complex Stadium overlooking Abdullah Shah Ghazi’s mazaar and the Mohatta Palace in the Clifton area on Thursday.

On a hot day, in which the mercury touched the early 90s but felt like as if it was 100 degrees, the visitors did well after going off to a slow start. The pitch as well as the outfield was slow too and the South African batsmen were a bit apprehensive at first.

The bowlers at the disposal of Patron’s XI skipper Taufeeq Umar, who opted to field first, didn’t make much of an impression throughout the day. The third-wicket stand between the bearded Hashim Amla (87) and the experienced Jacques Kallis (73) produced 130 runs quite comfortably.

Hyderabad all-rounder Rizwan Ahmed though took a wicket (skipper Graeme Smith) off the third ball he sent down. However, in spite of ending the day with figures of 3-90 in 24 overs of which none were maidens, he and his other teammates were generally ineffective.

Amla and Kallis both survived some close chances but played some glorious shots as the day progressed. Amla was the top-scorer with 87 runs, that came off 155 balls with 10 fours and two sixes. Kallis took just 105 balls to make 73 runs with nine boundaries.

Later, AB de Villiers hit six fours in his 48 runs off 105 deliveries and was unbeaten at the day’s close.

The opening partnership between Smith and Herschelle Gibbs was worth 56 runs in a little over an hour and three quarters play. Smith took 69 balls for his 20 runs and hit no fours. Gibbs, with 31 off 64 balls with four boundaries, followed his captain to the pavilion with only two more added to the total.

The only real failure for the South Africans was batsman Ashwell Prince, who faced just eight balls while scoring one run, before falling to a bat-pad catch off Rizwan.

With two more days to go under the blazing Karachi sun in the warm-up match, the South Africans embark upon a series of two Test matches and five One-day Internationals against Pakistan. The first Test starts here at the National Stadium from October 1.

PCB Patron’s XI won toss

South Africans 1st inns

*G C Smith st Sarfraz b Rizwan 20

H H Gibbs c Mansoor b Junaid 31

H M Amla c Babar b Rizwan 87

J H Kallis c Junaid b Anwar 73

A G Prince c Adnan b Rizwan 1

A B de Villiers batting 48

†M V Boucher batting 14

Extras (lb5, w5, nb10) 20

Total (5 wkts, 90 overs) 294

To bat: D W Steyn, A Nel, P L Harris, M Morkel, M Ntini

Fall: 1-56, 2-58, 3-188, 4-193, 5-261

Bowling: Anwar Ali 17-2-51-1 (3w); Junaid Zia 15-2-48-1 (4nb); Uzair-ul-Haq 10-3-33-0; Rizwan Ahmed 24-0-90-3; Zohaib Khan 9-1-34-0; Mansoor Amjad 5-0-18-0; Babar Naeem 10-5-15-0

PCB Patron’s XI

*Taufeeq Umar, Babar Naeem, Asim Kamal, Shahid Yousuf, Adnan Raza, Mansoor Amjad, Rizwan Ahmed, †Sarfraz Ahmed, Anwar Ali, Junaid Zia, Zohaib Khan, Uzair-ul-Haq

Umpires: Saleem Badar and Shakeel Khan. Official scorers: Salman Siddiqi and Syed Imran Ali

Players: PCB Patron’s XI 12, South Africans 12 (11 bat, 11 field)

Source:Cricket News