In the wake of consistent batting collapses and their batsmen’s inability to cope with seam and bounce, Pakistan had largely pinned hopes on their fast-bowlers for the tour of South Africa. But, after yet another thrashing defeat which saw the hosts win the second Test well inside the first session of day four to go 2-0 up in three-Test series, Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed feels that their woes at Cape Town were amplified as their fast-bowlers held themselves back from bowling at a quick pace.
‘If you compare our bowling with theirs, there’s a bit of difference in fast-bowling,’ said a dejected Sarfraz in a post-match press conference. ‘Our fast-bowlers haven’t bowled up to the mark in this Test. Our bowlers bowled at an average pace of 130kmph while they, on the other hand, were bowling at 145kmph. If you lack pace here, you don’t get wickets… I don’t know what is going on. I don’t know what held them back on this Cape Town wicket.’
Despite a low first innings score on the board at Centurion, Mohammad Amir and Shaheen Afridi had kept Pakistan in the contest by restricting the first innings deficit to 42 runs. Pakistan looked well on their way to set a daunting trail for the hosts as at one stage they were one down for 100, but yet another batting collapse saw Pakistan set a paltry 149-run target. With Mohammad Abbas’s return, after a shoulder injury, adding more firepower to the pace attack on these seaming wickets, Sarfraz hoped for his pacers to replicate the Boxing Day’s performance.
But, on an increasingly uneven surface, South Africa, across the second day’s play scored 382 runs as Pakistan picked only six wickets. The toiling day saw Pakistan bowlers drop pace during the middle session as the ball got older.
Even when Pakistan had opted for a new ball at the verge of Tea break, Amir, who got only one over with it that session, had kept his pace on the slower side. For Sarfraz, who even went on to admit ‘for me they [South Africa] are fitter than us’, that set the match in hosts’ favour.
He did acknowledge South Africa’s prowess at home, but lamented that his bowlers never really gave their batsmen a tough time.
‘Definitely, we are disappointed,’ replied Sarfraz when asked to comment on the third straight loss. ‘I think we are not playing well as a team. We have been saying that our bowling is better [than our batting].
The way we bowled at Centurion, it gave us hope. With 170 [177] runs on board, we needed to take wickets. Had we gotten them and restricted them under 250 or 300, it would have been a different story altogether. I think we did not capatilise on the opportunities that came our way.
from Daily Pakistan Observer – http://bit.ly/2FagcvM
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