Rain overnight and
cloud cover for most of the afternoon meant play stopped 15 overs short,
though to many that might have been a relief given that only 199 runs had
been scored in the 75 available.
Osman Samiuddin at Karachi29-Nov-2006
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Test cricket went back in time on the third day of the final Test between
Pakistan and the West Indies at the National Stadium. Rain overnight and
cloud cover for most of the afternoon meant play stopped 15 overs short,
though to many that might have been a relief given that only 199 runs had
been scored in the 75 available.Mohammad Hafeez, a raucous Twenty20 opener for Faisalabad when not opening
for Pakistan, put together a studious fifty, his fourth in Tests. It was,
from just over three-and-a-half hours, his slowest, and the improvised
strokes so readily seen in his limited-overs performances were all but
absent here, replaced by stodgy defense and plenty of streaky edges
through third man.”You have to really graft on this pitch,” Hafeez told reporters at the end
of the day. “It is difficult but to be a good player you have to be able
to do it on all types of wickets. On the first day there was a lot of
variation in the bounce but that is not there now. It still isn’t easy
especially for playing shots on.”Along with Imran Farhat, the start was particularly tortuous. Farhat took
his first run off his 18th ball, there were only two boundaries in the
first 15 overs and after 24 overs, they had eked out only 45. In part,
the West Indian bowling attack can be blamed for this, as Hafeez
acknowledged. “They bowled superbly to us at the beginning, especially
(Corey) Collymore who was very difficult to play. The idea was to see off the new
ball. We would take our time but set ourselves.”The caution may also have arisen from circumstance, especially in Hafeez’s
case. A fifty in the very first innings of this series should have led to
bigger, brighter things but pretty starts were frittered. Bowled
between bat and pad twice has also raised concerns about his technique and
footwork; another failure here would have put severe pressure on his
position in the side.”The wickets in this series have had low bounce. There are very few
pitches like this at domestic level where the balls come on higher, faster
and seam more. Adjusting to low bounce wickets has been the difficult
thing to do.”When I made my comeback in England, the captain and coach really gave me
lots of confidence. In this series I know I haven’t made big scores but
they are still backing me and that support has helped,” he added.He wasn’t the only batsman to make an important fifty today. Earlier in
the morning, Denesh Ramdin had to take over the West Indian cause after
the dismissal of Daren Ganga in the day’s fifth over. Like Hafeez it was
his fourth in Tests, though an altogether punchier affair. And for getting
his side within 44 runs of Pakistan’s first innings total, it was a timely
innings.”After Ganga fell I had to take things up on my own and try to build
partnerships with the tail. We wanted to get as close as possible to the
Pakistan score,” Ramdin said.He had struggled initially against the spin of Danish Kaneria, edging the
legspinner through Kamran Akmal’s legs for four early. But once the new
ball was taken, he unveiled a surprisingly wide array of strokes. “The
pitch is playing better now and there is something in it for bowlers and
batsmen. There was a bit more bounce today. But I take this as one of my
best fifties. I needed to show character and had to bat with the lower
order as well, which we have done.”Pakistan ended the day 174 runs ahead with eight wickets in hand. The
pitch hasn’t deteriorated as many thought it might, to the extent that
Hafeez suggested only a target of 350-plus would be a safe one. Mohammad
Yousuf is at the crease, record in sight, stunning form behind him and
with Hafeez keen to continue to a second Test hundred, setting such a
target is not as far-fetched as it might have appeared on the first two days.
