Three Pakistan batsmen made half-centuries as they edged closer to saving the follow-on, but South Africa did enough throughout to keep a door to victory open

The Bulletin by Osman Samiuddin22-Nov-2010
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Misbah-ul-Haq’s presence in the middle is crucial to Pakistan’s fate in the Test•AFPPakistan found a good time to put up one of their most resolute collectivebatting displays of the year, defying South Africa on an engrossing secondday at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium. Three from the middle order madehalf-centuries as they edged closer to saving the follow-on, but SouthAfrica did enough throughout to keep a door to victory open.Two partnerships dominated the resistance, both centred most pleasantlyaround youth. The first was a 117-run stand between Azhar Ali and TaufeeqUmar that spanned much of the morning. Azhar was the centrifugal force.Rare among his younger countrymen in that he seems wired for Testsspecifically, Azhar has been Pakistan’s sleeper hit this year.The impression he made in England solidified here with another well-judgedvigil. There was more oomph to his third half-century of the series andnot only because the fields were attacking and open. He took on Dale and Morne Morkel whenever the opportunity arose but was most impressiveholding off the latter as he attacked his ribs. Azhar was jumpy but athumping pull to bring up the fifty shortly before the first drinks breakput paid to that plan temporarily. Later, as Morkel tried his luck again,he pulled him even more emphatically.Off the backfoot, Azhar in fact is strongest and most elegant, as Steyn foundin occasional punches through off. A first ton was there for Azhar’s taking;instead he now has two nineties.The second developed over the afternoon, a 105-run partnership betweenMisbah-ul-Haq and Asad Shafiq and it was the debutant who steered it. Quick of feetand hands, Shafiq has looked comfortable since his ODI debut earlier thisyear. His first Test yielded a similar sense. In at a genuinely trickyperiod soon after lunch when two wickets had fallen in two overs, Shafiqwas particularly bright against spin.To anything remotely short – and there was enough from Johan Botha – heleant back to cut. To much else he moved his feet to kill the length. Oncehe improvised, flipping Botha over his shoulder. One cut, off Paul Harris,made him the 20th Pakistan batsman to score a fifty on debut. Against pace he wasless forthright and less willing to use his feet, so it was a surprisethat he fell to Harris eventually.And this is the thing about world-class attacks: they are never out of it.They may not be up to much for a session or more, but eventually theirquality will out. Steyn was more world class than the rest, taking fourpelts at the batsmen through the day. In the morning he probed rather thanthreatened. It had been the way since his return from injury in the lastTest and the pace hasn’t yet touched the peaks it can.Lunch helped Steyn find some rhythm and swing, however; immediately he wastempting a restless Younis Khan into nibbling at delicious, late-bloomingoutswingers. A few overs later temptation became downfall. Younis squeezeda drive through gully but a ball later, reaching out again, drove straightto cover. It was infectious, for in his next over, Azhar drove loosely aswell, straight to mid-off. It wasn’t unplayable stuff, just gooddisciplines playing on the impatience of opponents and similar to hisbreakthrough performance against the same opponents in Karachi three yearsago. This gave South Africa their first real peek.The last spell mirrored the first, though given he had a fresh ball, itwasn’t incisive enough. But by then he had Harris, looking every inch acop from a 70s cop show, to fall back on. Like all left-arm spinners, hegenerally does well against Pakistan and he tied them down for much of theafternoon. Timely middle-order breakthroughs, from good bounce, in thelast session ensured South African ascendancy.It was needed, for Botha was poor, bizarrely starting his day’s work as aseamer before belatedly resuming his day-job deep into the afternoon;seven expensive overs later, perhaps he should’ve stuck to seam-up. Morkelwas never consistent enough with his lengths.In this relentlessness it was left to Misbah to keep up the fight. He wentnowhere to begin with but on a day of dismissals as soft as baby cheeks, hisability to stick around was admirable. He opened up on Botha and eventually thepacers as they tired; some of the pulls and clips, as well as the mannerof work, was reminiscent of his Test peak in 2007-08 in India. More willbe needed to avoid the follow-on.