Sunday, January 3, 2010

Aus Vs Pak 2nd test Day 1 review

Today, Pak shown what they are capable of.
Ponting made a wrong decision at the toss to bat first. He knew there is grass on pitch, it is a live pitch. But full credit goes to Pakistani bowlers. They bowled well. Especially M'hd Asif and Sami, the duo looks good. Sometimes the referral systems stole their credit. But still they stand tall. It looked good when M'hd Yusuf supports the bowlers, by chatting with them in between the balls and overs. It always feels good when your captain is backing you up and showing confidence on you. And Sami and Asif got their rewards, 3 and 6 wickets each.
After the first test, Watson made a statement that he feels Asif is bowling same like he(Asif) bowled at his (Asif's) debut. But Asif gave the answer with the ball. He bowled superbly.
Ausies were really struggling against him. Sami also came back in the team well by peaking up wickets. His initial break through was crucial. Both Asif and Sami took 2 wickets in 2 balls.
Sami was little bit unlucky for not getting hat-trick. I thought that was a very close call.
In terms of Aus's batting performance, I thought there was nothing much wrong with it. The inclusion of Philip Hugues as an opener, made their batting line-up vulnerable. He never looked confident. Watson, the inform batsman also failed. But in the difficult situations, captain should always guide his ship. But with the elbow injury and low confidence Ponting didn't make the mark. Hussey was looking good, but returned to the pavilion because of a miss-timed pull shot.
The key performer in Aus batting line-up today was Johnson. He played a class of innings. Especially Danish Kaneria's over, in which he made 20 odd runs. He was pulling good, smashing the ball through extra covers, covers. But he was out of partners. He was the only batsman who played aggressively and positively. And finally Aus were bowled out for just 127 runs in 44.2 overs, their 3rd total under 160 since The Oval in August. .
When Pak came to bat, Bollinger and Siddle bowled well, but Pak batsmen survived.
I think Ponting should have given ball to Johnson. He was in rhythm in last test.
Anyway, lets see what happens on the second day.