Pakistan gains confidence while beating Cape Cobras – Tour match

Pakistan 6-176 declared (Asad Shafiq 45*, Misbah-ul-Haq 44, Johannes Bothma 3-24) and 1-126(Younis Khan 74*, Imran Farhat 34) beat Emerging Cape Cobras 156 (Matthew Kleinveldt 36, Keegan Petersen 32, Mohammad Irfan 4-20, Abdur Rehman 3-31) and 78 (Keegan Petersen 33, Uwe Birkenstock 14, Mohammad Irfan 3-20) by 10 wickets.

Pakistan faced a humiliating defeat in the first Test vs. South Africa but got back to rythm after beating Emerging Cape Cobras in the tour match at Cape Town.

The Emerging Cape Cobras scored 156 runs in their first innings and were bowled out cheaply for 78 mere runs in the second. Pakistan declared their first innings at 176 in 50 overs for the loss of 6 wickets and achieved the target of 59 by smashing 62 runs without losing any wicket and kept on batting until they scored 126 for the loss of one wicket.

The two day Tour-Match concluded on Monday, February 11, 2013, at Wally Wilson Oval, Newlands, Cape Town.

Earlier, the captain of the Emerging Cape Cobras, Ryan Canning, won the toss and went into bat first but lost the first wicket at just eight runs. Keegan Petersen joined in with Matthew Kleinveldt and both started off playing their shots and the ball was visiting the boundary very often. Kleinveldt hit 3 fours in the 7th and 8th over as Petersen added 2 boundaries in the next over. The second wicket partnership took the score to 70 when Petersen was gone for 32 runs. Kleinveldt became the fourth victim after scoring 36 with the addition of eight runs to the total.

The Pakistani bowlers took command of the situation and the home batsmen found it hard to score the runs freely as the wickets kept on sliding at regular intervals. Sybrand Engelbrecht was the only batsman who provided resistance by scoring 22 runs as the entire team was sent back to the pavilion for 156 in 58.5 overs.

Mohammad Irfan - Anticipates a Test cap vs. South Africa in the second match
Mohammad Irfan – Anticipates a Test cap vs. South Africa in the second match

Mohammad Irfan, the lanky fast bowler, was the star performer with four, Abdur Rehman held three, Rahat Ali got two and Tanvir Ahmed claimed one wicket.

Pakistan did not have a nice start either and lost two wickets for just 16 runs as the third wicket was lost at 29. Faisal Iqbal and the skipper Misbah-ul-Haq stabilised the innings, kept the score board moving and the latter hit 3 fours in the 17th and next over. Misbah-ul-Haq tasted his first four in the 21st over and dispatched the first six of the match two overs later. The fourth wicket association blossomed to 87 when Faisal Iqbal was caught by Kleinveldt at square leg off Monde Mahlombe for 33 from 44 balls with 7 fours.

The promising Asad Shafiq got together with Misbah-ul- Haq, throwing the ball out of the fence regularly. The latter opted to retire after scoring 44 as Asad Shafiq remained unbeaten for 45 off 96 with 8 fours. Tanvir Ahmed played a hurried innings of 22 off 19 balls with 2 sixes and 1 four as the tourists declared their innings at 176 with four wickets still in hand while consuming 50 overs.

Johannes Bothma was the top wicket taker with three whereas Brendan Young, Monde Mahlombe and Petrus Jeftha shared one wicket each.

The hosts once again lost their openers for just 28 runs as Tanvir Ahmed struck twice early in the innings. Keegan Petersen and Uwe Birkenstock tried to enhance the innings with aggression as the latter dispatched three consecutive fours in the 14th over bowled by Ehsan Adil. The bowler came back by uprooting the stumps of Birkenstock for 14 on the very next ball.

Petersen opted to attack and hit 3 fours in the next few overs before he was declared leg before wicket off Mohammad Irfan for 33 off 47 deliveries with 5 fours. The Pakistani bowlers manipulated the game with excellent bowling and Ockert Erasmus was the only batsman who touched the double figures by scoring 10 runs. The innings of the Emerging Cape Cobras was squeezed for just 78 runs in 29 overs.

Mohammad Irfan once again was the supreme bowler with three wickets, Tanvir Ahmed, Ehsan Adil and Abdur Rehman clinched three each whereas Saeed Ajmal held one wicket.

Pakistan required 59 runs to win the game as Imran Farhat and Younis Khan opened the innings carefully while scoring 29 runs in the first 10 overs with just one four. Younis Khan got his first four in the 14th over as Imran Frahat  sent the ball out of the rope thrice by then. The first fifty of the innings was posted on board in 19 overs as Imran Farhat hit 1 four and 1 six in the next couple of overs. The target was attained in the 21st over as the visitors continued their innings in order to provide some practice to their batsmen.

Imran Farhat was retired not out for 34 runs and Azhar Ali replaced him in the center. They took the score to 100 in the 35th over and Younis Khan scored his fifty on the 112th balls with a four and added another 3 boundaries in the next two overs. Azhar Ali remained off colour once again and managed just 12 runs when he was caught by Taariq Chiecktey off Bothma.  Younis Khan remained unbeaten for 74 from 136 deliveries with 10 fours and the visitors reached 126 for the loss of one wicket in 43 overs.

Pakistan won the match comprehensively by 10 wickets and will go in the second Test against South Africa with more confidence as that encounter will commence from February 14, 2013, at Newlands, Cape Town.


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