New Zealand v Pakistan, 3rd Test, Napier
Day1 - Tea Pakistan 180 for 7 (Farhat 102*, Gul 13*, O'Brien 4-30) v New Zealand
Don't be fooled by the score. It was indeed a flat track in Napier but Iain O'Brien was on a mission to make his last Test memorable and Pakistan's top order, as ever, was in a self-destructive mood. On a lovely, warm day perfect for cricket, O'Brien scythed through the top order to leave the visitors tottering at 51 for 5 but Pakistan recovered in the afternoon through a fighting century from Imran Farhat.
It would be churlish to dismiss Farhat's effort as streaky, though there were several play and misses and a couple of curious slogs, which would have raised blood-pressure levels in the dressing room, but that's how he seems to play. There were spurts where Farhat seemed to lose concentration and went for pressure-reliving big hits and there were phases where he looked to be in control. Or something resembling it at least.
Amid nervous slashes, Farhat played a couple of off drives - the one in the seventh over against Chris Martin being the shot of the day - and two well-timed cover drives. There was a flamboyant square drive too, on a bent knee for added effect, a crunchy pull shot and he definitely got better in the second session, during which he seemed surer of where his off stump was. He grew increasingly bolder and played big shots against Daniel Vettori to reach his hundred. Farhat found support in Mohammad Aamer in the afternoon and proceeded to lead Pakistan out of shambles. The last century by a Pakistan opener outside the subcontinent was Salman Butt's effort in Sydney way back in 2005.
Farhat's knock, and perhaps more importantly Aamer's brief defiance, revealed two truths: The pitch was a true, firm surface with bounce but not much movement and the other Pakistan batsmen didn't apply themselves. Until Farhat produced his fighting innings, it was all O'Brien. At one point O'Brien's figures read: 4-2-3-3. He was hostile throughout his spell, consistently bowling over 140 kmph, and he was always accurate but, even so, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that even he would have been slightly surprised by the results.
On a flat pitch, Pakistan's top order contrived to implode yet again by playing poor cricket. Only one batsman, Misbah-ul-Haq, was taken out by a difficult delivery; the rest were simply not good enough. Tim Southee claimed the initial breakthrough when Salman Butt left a gaping gap between bat and pad to lose his middle stump, after which O'Brien took over. And how.
O'Brien sussed out quickly that Faisal Iqbal was a sitting target because of his awkward feet movement and aimed one at his throat, forcing an ugly fend to the slip cordon. He tied up Yousuf with his disciplined lines and lengths before hurling one short of a length outside off stump. Yousuf thought it would be the ideal chance to break the shackles but was done in by the extra bounce and edged it to second slip.
It was the recurring theme of a bizarre morning. O'Brien tied up edgy batsmen with his discipline before he produced the knock-out blow with some thing extra. Misbah got a gem too early in his innings. The ball held its line outside off and Misbah couldn't help edging it behind.
Pakistan's debacle was exemplified by Umar Akmal's dismissal. It was a short-of-length delivery that straightened well outside off stump. It could have been left alone or it could have been cut to the point boundary but Umar just hung his bat out to guide it straight to gully. Fortunately for Pakistan, though, Farhat couldn't have chosen a better moment to resuscitate his career.
However, till Farhat did his thing, it was O'Brien who owned the morning and Ian Smith was moved enough to say on air: "Someone offer his wife a job here ... we don't wanna miss this fella here!"
Source: cricinfo.com
It would be churlish to dismiss Farhat's effort as streaky, though there were several play and misses and a couple of curious slogs, which would have raised blood-pressure levels in the dressing room, but that's how he seems to play. There were spurts where Farhat seemed to lose concentration and went for pressure-reliving big hits and there were phases where he looked to be in control. Or something resembling it at least.
Amid nervous slashes, Farhat played a couple of off drives - the one in the seventh over against Chris Martin being the shot of the day - and two well-timed cover drives. There was a flamboyant square drive too, on a bent knee for added effect, a crunchy pull shot and he definitely got better in the second session, during which he seemed surer of where his off stump was. He grew increasingly bolder and played big shots against Daniel Vettori to reach his hundred. Farhat found support in Mohammad Aamer in the afternoon and proceeded to lead Pakistan out of shambles. The last century by a Pakistan opener outside the subcontinent was Salman Butt's effort in Sydney way back in 2005.
Farhat's knock, and perhaps more importantly Aamer's brief defiance, revealed two truths: The pitch was a true, firm surface with bounce but not much movement and the other Pakistan batsmen didn't apply themselves. Until Farhat produced his fighting innings, it was all O'Brien. At one point O'Brien's figures read: 4-2-3-3. He was hostile throughout his spell, consistently bowling over 140 kmph, and he was always accurate but, even so, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that even he would have been slightly surprised by the results.
On a flat pitch, Pakistan's top order contrived to implode yet again by playing poor cricket. Only one batsman, Misbah-ul-Haq, was taken out by a difficult delivery; the rest were simply not good enough. Tim Southee claimed the initial breakthrough when Salman Butt left a gaping gap between bat and pad to lose his middle stump, after which O'Brien took over. And how.
O'Brien sussed out quickly that Faisal Iqbal was a sitting target because of his awkward feet movement and aimed one at his throat, forcing an ugly fend to the slip cordon. He tied up Yousuf with his disciplined lines and lengths before hurling one short of a length outside off stump. Yousuf thought it would be the ideal chance to break the shackles but was done in by the extra bounce and edged it to second slip.
It was the recurring theme of a bizarre morning. O'Brien tied up edgy batsmen with his discipline before he produced the knock-out blow with some thing extra. Misbah got a gem too early in his innings. The ball held its line outside off and Misbah couldn't help edging it behind.
Pakistan's debacle was exemplified by Umar Akmal's dismissal. It was a short-of-length delivery that straightened well outside off stump. It could have been left alone or it could have been cut to the point boundary but Umar just hung his bat out to guide it straight to gully. Fortunately for Pakistan, though, Farhat couldn't have chosen a better moment to resuscitate his career.
However, till Farhat did his thing, it was O'Brien who owned the morning and Ian Smith was moved enough to say on air: "Someone offer his wife a job here ... we don't wanna miss this fella here!"
Source: cricinfo.com
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