A confident Pakistan will look to their spinners to sweep the two-match series against a depleted South Africa when the second and final Test starts in Dubai today.
Pakistan’s spin duo of Saeed Ajmal and left-armer Zulfiqar Babar shared 11 wickets between them to guide their team to a seven-wicket win in the first Test in Abu Dhabi, only their fourth win in 22 Tests against South Africa.
Even the pacemen Mohammad Irfan and Junaid Khan took four wickets apiece as a formidable South Africa batting slumped to 249 and 232 in the two innings, with only Hashim Amla (118) and A.B. de Villiers (90) showing some resistance.
Photo: AFP
Pakistan rode on a brilliant 146 by opener Khurram Manzoor — the highest by a Pakistan batsman in a Test against South Africa — and a responsible 100 by captain Misbah-ul-Haq to post a big 442-run total.
South Africa will be hard pressed to maintain their unbeaten run in an away series since losing in Sri Lanka in 2006.
More so as Amla and Dale Steyn, the world’s top Test batsman and bowler respectively, may not be available for the match. Amla has returned home for the birth of his child, while Steyn is nursing a hamstring injury.
Left-hander Dean Elgar is due to replace Amla, while Rory Kleinveldt is likely to fill in for Steyn.
South Africa will also look at their spin option to replace left-armer Robin Peterson, who failed to get a single wicket in the first Test, with Pakistan-born legspinner Imran Tahir.
South African captain Graeme Smith expressed confidence his team can bounce back.
“We haven’t been in this position too often and with the standards that we set ourselves, we should have the ability to bounce back,” Smith said.
“The motivation is there. We are really motivated to win the next Test match. That’s got to be our ultimate goal. We have to focus on making sure our plans are better,” he added.
On the contrary, Pakistan have a settled squad and will not tinker with the winning combination.
However, despite all the plusses, Misbah warned against complacency.
“We are really playing the top side in the world, so our focus is on the next game,” Misbah said, aiming to add to Pakistan’s only series win over South Africa in 2003.
Misbah denied he wants a batting track in Dubai to draw the Test.
“I don’t think so, we have given clear indications to the groundsman. We want a result — no doubt we want to exploit our home advantage and we will do that, but we want a result,” Misbah said.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB