Mohammad Irfan's bowling is definitely one of the most striking aspects
of watching Pakistan cricket. The 7 foot left-armer, who has played two
Tests before the one at Abu Dhabi, has been noticed predominantly for
his freakish height. It's still early days but in three previous innings
his bowling did not leave any impression but today was different.
The pacer, who wears size-17 boots, made a mark for himself very early after South Africa chose to bat. His height was used well to get some extra bounce off a good length. One such delivery forced Alviro Petersen to hole out to short-leg. Irfan then proceeded to give the Proteas skipper a small working over. A loose drive induced an edge that flew over third slip, a much fuller delivery then beat him in the same over. An over later, an inside edge missed the stumps. Finally, Smith's luck ran out and he edged a good length ball to the wicket-keeper. Pakistan were forced to get the decision after a review but the sound was clear enough. Irfan had bagged both openers and with South Africa at 19/2, he had made a mark for his skill and not just height.
Serene Amla battles hard:
After the double blow from Irfan, Jacques Kallis was soon done in by Junaid Khan. The second left-arm seamer in the Pakistan eleven posed a few problems for Kallis from a round-the-wicket line and this was a Kallis-specific plan as well. He missed a pull first then drove loosely outside off. The inside edge was pouched well by a diving Adnan Akmal and South Africa were in trouble now at 43/3.
They needed some stability and there was none better than Hashim Amla for the job. He drove, cut, left alone with great assurance. Nothing that happened at the other end bothered him.
AB de Villiers was dropped at short leg off Ajmal once, he hit a couple of sweet boundaries, there were shouts for LBW and he fell soon in a bizarre manner. After lunging out and knocking the ball towards first slip, de Villiers was oblivious to the fact that he had dragged his back foot just over the line. Adnan Akmal spotted it and alerted Younis Khan to pass the ball on. The bails were whipped off, after a considerable pause, with de Villiers still clearly out. Depending on how you see it, the wicket was smart work from Adnan or against the Spirit of the game since de Villiers was not attempting a run.
At 104/4 in the 2nd session on the first day, the decision to bat did not look the right one but Amla was still out there, driving and cutting his way to a fighting ton. It was a typical Amla innings. Completely unfazed by good bowling or the situation of the game, he showed just why he is currently the No.1 Test batsman in the world.
Bizarre umpiring:
AB de Villiers' wicket was not the most unreal passage of play during the day. What happened immediately after lunch was definitely more bizarre. Mohammad Irfan, who had been warned once for running on the danger area just before lunch, had problems with his landing again. Only this time umpire Paul Reiffel turned a blind eye towards it. In the space of two overs, Irfan over-stepped at least 10 times but it was not spotted by the Australian. When he was finally called, it induced a wry laugh and mock applause from Graeme Smith in the dressing room.
The counter-attack:
JP Duminy, playing his first Test since November 2012, was in a buoyant mood right from the outset. He came down to the spinners, drove and swept well to make a fluent 57. He dominated a 95-run stand with Hashim Amla before falling to a sweep trap laid out by Pakistan. Attempting yet another sweep - a shot that had been mighty productive for him so far- he top edged and found the man at deep backward square leg. The fielder was placed halfway in and at just the perfect spot for the miscue.
Zulfiqar on a roll:
Even as Hashim Amla got his 20th Test hundred - the quickest South African to reach the landmark - it was the 34-year old debutant who was the star. Zulfiqar Babar, the second oldest Pakistani debutant, filled in for Abdur Rehman (out with a sore back) quite brilliantly. He had his tail up after the wicket of Duminy. Faf du Plessis was teased and beaten a couple of times, then forced to edge a ball that bounced higher than usual, Asad Shafiq taking a splendid catch diving forward at gully. Robin Peterson was soon bowled through the gate and Pakistan ruled the roost despite Amla's splendid ton.
Pakistan are quite clearly ahead at the end of day 1. South Africa will be looking up to Amla once again tomorrow to add as many runs as possible before the bowlers have a go at the brittle Pakistan batting. The game could move on very rapidly unless a Pakistan batsman manages to complement the good work done by their bowlers.
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