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Pakistan wins by eight wickets

South African player Gary Kirsten, left and coach Eric Simons, right, stand dejected during the prize distribution ceremony after Pakistan defeated South Africa by eight wickets in the first test at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, Pakistan, yesterday. PHOTO: AP

Pakistan defeated South Africa by eight wickets yesterday to win the first test and go 1-0 up in the two-match series.

Resuming at the overnight 137 for one, left-handed opener Taufeeq Umer added two more to his overnight 61 before he was bowled by left-arm spinner Paul Adams off a delivery which kept low. Umer's 63 included nine fours and he faced 114 balls in his just over 2 1/2 hours innings.

Yasir Hameed remained unbeaten on 20 while Shoaib Malik hit captain Graeme Smith for a winning boundary over long on and remained undefeated on 8.

South Africa stumbled to 241 in its second innings Monday against Pakistan paceman Shoaib Akhtar (4-36) and Danish Kaneria's spin (5-46). It gave the visitors a small total of 160 runs to defend. Umer had scored a century in Pakistan's healthy reply of 401 to South African first innings of 320 and shared the man of the match award with Kaneria.

"It was a total team effort, everyone contributed in this important victory," said Pakistan stand-in captain Yousuf Youhana.

"Our bowlers bowled well on a slow track and Shoaib Akhtar's spell on the fourth morning changed the complexion of the game," he added.

Akhtar claimed three quick wickets -- Boeta Dippenaar, Herschelle Gibbs and Jacques Kallis -- before he left the field due to a strained hamstring.

"We let ourselves down yesterday when Pakistan knocked over our four batters early in the morning, but we have to regroup ourselves quickly to come back into the series," said Smith, who surprisingly went into the test with just one specialist spinner Adams on a slow wicket.

The second test begins in Faisalabad on Friday.

Bangladesh versus England

Ground workers used buckets and mops after heavy rain stopped the historic first test match between Bangladesh and England yesterday.

Umpires will have a second inspection of the ground at 2:45pm local time to decide when to resume play.

The 30-minute downpour created puddles in the venue, Dhaka's Bangabandhu National Stadium. The outfield was still wet when umpires made their first inspection at 1pm. Rain came four overs into the game with Bangladesh's opener Javed Omar scoring the only run of the innings. His partner Hannan Sarkar has yet to score.
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