Pakistan - The giant killers triumph against mighty South Africa

There are numerous examples of Test matches in which Pakistan’s batsmen have thrown away the advantage that their bowlers have created for them.

That did not happen this time round.

Besides the two centuries and a solid 75 by the debutant opener, the highlight of Pakistan’s batting performance was the running between the wickets. There was assurance and confidence in the manner the Pakistan batsmen ran.

The strike was rotated constantly and there was hardly any time in their innings that one felt that the Pakistanis were embroiled in meaningless defence for prolonged periods.

That allowed them to score at over 3 an over (3.18 for the innings). There were even long periods of the game when Pakistan was scoring at over 4 an over. In contrast, South Africa’s run rate in its two innings was 2.67 and 2.80.

Khurram Manzoor

Pakistan have a lot to be proud of after this win and there are many feats that they will treasure and take with them into the next test match in Dubai.

1. Khurram Manzoor’s 146 was the highest score by a Pakistan batsman in a Test match against South Africa.
2. Khurram Manzoor and Shan Masood’s 135-run opening partnership was the second highest opening partnership for Pakistan against South Africa. They fell short by two runs of the record partnership, which was between Taufeeq Umar and Imran Farhat in 2003.
3. The opener’s century stand was Pakistan’s first after 10 Tests. The last century opening stand came 22 innings ago.
4. Misbah, with scores of 100 and 28*, became the leading run scorer in all international matches played in 2013.
5. Asad Shafiq scored his 7th Test 50 while batting at number 6. That is now the highest number of Test 50s for a number 6 batsman in Tests in the past three years (since 1st November 2010). Angelo Matthews and Ian bell have 6 fifties each at number 6 during this period. Asad Shafiq also has 3 centuries at this position during this period; Only Michael Hussey with 5 centuries has more. Asad Shafiq needs 101 more runs to over take Hussey and become the leading run scorer at the number 6 position in tests since 1st November 2010.
6. Misbah became the oldest man to score a Test century for Pakistan.
7. Dale Steyn‘s opening spell of 5-0-31-0 was his most expensive opening spell ever in Test cricket.

Those are achievements and a half considering that they’ve come against the world’s number 1 Test team.

UAE is fast becoming Pakistan’s fortress, while Pakistan is fast gaining the reputation of being Giant Killers. This was their fourth consecutive win in the UAE against the number 1 test team.

Additionally, in the past two years they have managed to:

Beat England (World #1 Test Team) 3-0Beat India (ODI World Champions) 2-1Beat West Indies (World T20 Champions) 2-0

This win against South Africa is no surprise. Not for the quietly confident eternally optimistic fans. However, it is one big achievement and all Pakistani should be proud.

Especially Misbah and his men.