South Africa 584/9d & 203/5d
Pakistan 434 & 153/3 (67 ov)
Fall of wickets – 1-66 (Taufeeq Umar, 20.3 ov), 2-66 (Mohammad Hafeez, 21.2 ov), 3-66 (Younis Khan, 21.4 ov)
Match drawn
AB de Villiers 278 n/o , new SA individual Record
AB de Villiers has posted South Africa’s highest individual score to give them firm control of the second Test on the second day against Pakistan at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium on Sunday.
De Villiers scored 278 not out to pass Graeme Smith’s landmark of 277 against England in Birmingham in 2003, with captain Smith declaring their first innings closed on 584 for nine shortly afterwards.
Taufeeq Umar (16) and Azhar Ali (34) then took Pakistan to 59 for one before bad light stopped play and stumps were drawn with seven overs remaining in the day.
Mohammad Hafeez was the batsman out, playing across his front pad and being trapped lbw for two in the first over of the innings.
De Villiers came to the wicket with the score at 33 for three on the first morning, but immediately looked settled and occupied the crease for more than 11 hours, taking 418 deliveries and hitting 23 fours and six sixes.
South Africa had begun the second day on 311 for five and de Villiers showed excellent management of the lower order as he shared stands of 73 with Mark Boucher (45), 42 with Johan Botha (12), 59 with Steyn (27) and 35 with Paul Harris (19).
The 26-year-old de Villiers reached the record in a thrilling final hour of the innings, when he and last man Morne Morkel (35 not out) added a record 107 runs in 13.4 overs.
South Africa’s previous best 10th-wicket stand was made in 1929 when Harold “Tuppy” Owen-Smith and Alexander “Sandy” Bell added 103 against England in Leeds.
Pace bowler Tanvir Ahmed, playing in his first Test, was the best of the Pakistan bowlers with six for 120 in 27 overs.
De Villiers, who had a reputation for impetuous strokeplay in his youth, batted with composure and maturity, before tearing into the bowling in the hour before tea.
De Villiers, whose double century was the second of this career, and Jacques Kallis (105) had added 179 for the fourth wicket on the first day.
Pakistan will be hoping for an improved showing from their spinners on what could be another slow, low pitch Enlarge
Series/Tournaments: South Africa tour of United Arab Emirates
The Big Picture
Since Pakistan cricket was plunged into scandal during the Lord’s Test three months ago, it seems not a week has gone by without some new twist to the controversy. Yet after their Younis Khan-inspired draw in the first Test at Dubai the Pakistan camp has been remarkably quiet. The clamour surrounding Zulqarnain Haider’s shock departure from the side has died down – for now at least – and, against the odds, Pakistan will go into the second Test under Misbah-ul-Haq’s leadership believing they have the potential to upset the South Africans and win their first Test series since 2006.
At 36, Misbah’s tenure is surely not a long-term option but he showed the value of experience and a calm head in the course of his defiant 186-run stand with Younis and has at least done enough to justify his selection to the team. However, while Pakistan’s batting resilience was admirable their bowling – already dented by the loss of Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir – has been further hit by Wahab Riaz’s injury. Much will depend on the spinners, Abdur Rehman and Saeed Ajmal, who struggled for incisiveness in the first Test but were not helped by the batting-friendly conditions.
South Africa’s spinners were also not as effective as hoped after both teams went into the match with two slow bowlers. With conditions likely to be similar in Abu Dhabi – another venue hosting a Test for the first time – it will take something special from either team to force a result in the game, and South Africa will look to their new-ball pair of Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn to give them that spark. Morkel’s five-wicket haul set up South Africa’s first-innings lead at Dubai, and while Steyn is not quite back to his best after his return from injury he could have given his team the crucial breakthrough had Mark Boucher held a chance off Younis’s bat early on the fifth morning.
With wins in the one-day and Twenty20 series, Graeme Smith and his men have made no secret of their intention to wrap up a clean sweep with victory in the Tests too. As the No. 2 Test side in world cricket, there’s every reason to back South Africa to do just that but, as always, Pakistan are impossible to predict and simply refuse to be written off.
Current partnership 107 runs, 13.4 overs, RR: 7.82 (de Villiers 72, Morkel 35)
WHOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOO STEYN takes a wicket in his first over. Go Proteas 😀
@ superBul:60 – Super, Well done to AB. He batted brilliant. Thought maybe we would wait for him to get 300, but then we need to bowl them out twice.
@ Puma:
The problem was there is only 1 wicket left, they would be to cautious, and maybe that would have wasted time. But really nice for Smith to give him a chance to take His record away.
@ superBul:
64 – Yeah Agree Super, Nice that Smith let him get the record first.
Just hope we can get another wicket before close today. Maybe another two would do just fine.
Knights 268/5 (40/40 ov)
Titans 233/6 (36.3/40 ov)
Titans require another 36 runs with 4 wickets and 21 balls remaining
Lions 174/9 (40/40 ov)
Cape Cobras 143/4 (31.2/40 ov)
Cape Cobras require another 32 runs with 6 wickets and 52 balls remaining
Knights 268/5 (40/40 ov)
Titans 250/6 (38.0/40 ov)
Titans require another 19 runs with 4 wickets and 12 balls remaining
Lions 174/9 (40/40 ov)
Cape Cobras 155/4 (33.1/40 ov)
Cape Cobras require another 20 runs with 6 wickets and 41 balls remaining
Lions 174/9 (40/40 ov)
Cape Cobras 163/4 (33.5/40 ov)
Cape Cobras require another 12 runs with 6 wickets and 37 balls remaining
Knights 268/5 (40/40 ov)
Titans 262/6 (38.4/40 ov)
Titans require another 7 runs with 4 wickets and 8 balls remaining
Knights 268/5 (40/40 ov)
Titans 266/6 (39.0/40 ov)
Titans require another 3 runs with 4 wickets and 6 balls remaining
Lions 174/9 (40/40 ov)
Cape Cobras 168/4 (34.4/40 ov)
Cape Cobras require another 7 runs with 6 wickets and 32 balls remaining
Knights 268/5 (40/40 ov)
Titans 272/6 (39.2/40 ov)
Titans won by 4 wickets (with 4 balls remaining)
Lions 174/9 (40/40 ov)
Cape Cobras 175/4 (36.0/40 ov)
Cape Cobras won by 6 wickets (with 24 balls remaining)
AB de Villiers wrote his name into the record books in the course of his unbeaten double-hundred, passing Graeme Smith’s record in reaching 278 not out before South Africa declared at 584 for 9, and paid tribute to the man whose record he now holds at the end of the second day’s play. “I’d like to dedicate that knock to Graeme,” said de Villiers. “He showed a lot of class in his captaincy by allowing me to go through and to get that record. I thought we could have declared a bit earlier but he wanted me to push on and to get that record.
“I never expected to reach this kind of record. I did start believing when I got my double-hundred in India a couple of years ago, that’s definitely when the belief started but before then there was no hope at all. I was just playing the game for the fun of it and hoping to get a hundred here and there. The mindset has changed quite a bit and I do know now that I’m capable of scoring big runs and hopefully I will maintain that kind of form.”
He pushed the mark one run further than his captain had against England at Edgbaston more than seven years ago, edged three runs past Daryll Cullinan and Gary Kirsten’s joint record, and surpassed Graeme Pollock’s Test best by a good four runs. But de Villiers needed some help from the tailenders to get to the mark. He was on 160 when Dale Steyn joined him at the crease, and was just nine runs short of his double-hundred when Steyn departed almost 20 overs later, their stand worth 59.
Paul Harris also stuck around, helping add 35 for the ninth wicket and seeing de Villiers through to his double ton. But the best was saved for last as de Villiers and No. 11 Morne Morkel put together an unbroken 107 for the 10th wicket which not only saw de Villiers through to the landmark but also broke a South African record, beating the 103 that Tuppy Owen-Smith and Sandy Bell put on against England at Headingley in 1929.
“All the tailenders that stuck it out with me there today were quite amazing and they were all willing to give me the strike to get to the record,” said de Villiers. “They were all willing to come out there and to put their bodies on the line. That even inspired me, to watch Morne and Dale and Harry and all of them getting into line and really taking the knocks for the team.
“It was a very special day, and even more special to get ourselves out of trouble after we were three down early on in the Test match. That’s how I play this game, I like to be a team man and to get us out of trouble. It’s a very special day and a very special innings.”
@ superBul:77 – Super, AB was superb.
I wonder if we can bowl them out early tomorrow morning and send them back in? Hoping like crazy. Would love for us to win this one, but it will probably end in a draw.
Can’t wait for India to come here. Gonna be great for the summer months. India number one at the moment, love playing the best. Always makes for exciting crici.
@ Puma:
I wont let them follow on, i hope that Smith bats fast to a 400 lead and send them in, batting last to get 100 runs might be a nightmare.
New Zealand 193 & 175 (51.2 ov)
India 566/8d
India won by an innings and 198 runs
Vettori and the rest of the New Zealand team come out of the dressing-room and shake hands with the Indians as they troop off the ground. It was probably too much to expect New Zealand to have wrenched a draw in this game after being dominated in the first three days, but you’d have expected them to at least take the match till late into the fourth day.
Almost everything has gone right for India in this game, perhaps some runs from Raina would have made it perfect. Two men who weren’t in their best form, Gambhir and Dhoni, spent time in the middle, Ishant Sharma and Sreesanth seemed to be in rhythm, and the spinners did their job as well in Nagpur. The win means India take the series 1-0, and they are now haven’t lost a series since the Mendis inspired Sri Lanka to victory in mid-2008.
It’s not all doom-and-gloom for New Zealand, who were widely expected to be thumped 3-0 when they came into the series. The emergence of Kane Williamson is a huge bonus, as is the return of Jesse Ryder who has been out of Tests for a long time ahead of this series. Brendon McCullum’s audition as a Test opener was also a success.Question marks will remain over Gareth Hopkins, though, and opinion will be divided on whether Tim McIntosh is a long-term opening prospect.
Rajesh: “Martin’s first duck against India. This is his second highest series average ever!!”
Nithin: “NZ fantastic fight in first two test math came with disasterous end in third . This test series is a wake up call for Indian team for most awaited SA series . We cannot take any team for granted .Well played NZ . Indians are still NO 1, but lot of lessons taught for Number one side by underdogs NZ . Hats of NZ for their sportsman spirit . Good luck for one day series .”
400/8 Pakistan trail by 180 runs.
@ superBul:79 – You right there Super, was just thinking if we bowled them out quick. Now with out a doubt we have to go into bat then try and bowl them out. Probably going end in a draw.
@ Puma:
This pitch is like a cement pitch, even a tar road would have made this a better game. At least we could have had a pothole or 2 then 😆 . Poor pitch for Test cricket, with pitches like this Test Cricket is doomed.
@ superBul:83 – Super, just knew it would be a draw. Pity about that, really wanted our team to win. Now for India. Can’t wait. Just hope not a lot of rain. We are having plenty rain at the moment.
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