SHARJAH, Oct 10: South Africa geared up for the first Test against Pakistan by gaining useful batting and bowling practice in their drawn three-day match here on Thursday.
They managed 109-3 in their second innings with an overall lead of 152 against Pakistan ‘A’ on the final day at the Sharjah Stadium.
South Africa did not send out their regular openers and instead promoted Jean-Paul Duminy and Faf de Plessis to get some useful practice on the new ball.
Duminy, who hit 49 in the first innings, fell caught behind off paceman Ehsan Adil after scoring 23, but de Plessis went on to score 42 before he retired to give the tail-enders some batting practice.
South Africa face Pakistan in the first of two Tests starting in Abu Dhabi from Monday.
The second Test will be played in Dubai from October 23 after which the teams will play five one-day and two Twenty20 internationals.
South African skipper Graeme Smith was satisfied with his team’s preparation and acclimatisation in the UAE heat, soaring up to 38 degrees celsius.
“I think we are getting used to the heat and I think we have done that, it’s been a fair amount of getting used to the conditions of the UAE,” said Smith.
“We have made sure we walk away knowing that we have achieved something and have the ability to mentally step it up for the big games and I would like to think we would be able to that going into the first Test.”
Earlier, Pakistan Test hopeful Asad Shafiq fell for 42 and Pakistan ‘A’ captain Umar Amin managed just 12.
Another aspirant for a Test place, Sohaib Maqsood, made 34 and wicket-keeper Mohammad Rizwan hit 31.
Pakistan ‘A’ declared their first innings at 311-6, giving South Africa a lead of 43.
South Africa’s four-pronged pace attack of Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander, Morne Morkel and Rory Kleinveldt had a 58-over work-out with Philander chipping in with 2-39 while Morkel got 1-26.—AFP
Scoreboard
SOUTH AFRICA (1st Innings) 354-8 declared in 98.3 overs (J.H. Kallis 70, A.N. Petersen 58, A.B. de Villiers 58, H.M. Amla 50, J.P. Duminy 49).
****PAKISTAN** ‘A’** (1st Innings, overnight 230-4):
Shan Masood retired out 50
Ahmed Shehzad c Petersen b Peterson 60
Azhar Ali retired out 54
Faisal Iqbal c Smith b Morkel 10
Asad Shafiq c Petersen b Philander 42
Umar Amin b Philander 12
Sohaib Maqsood not out 34
Mohammad Rizwan not out 31
EXTRAS (B-4, LB-1, W-2, NB-5) 12
TOTAL (for six wkts decl, 100 overs) 311
FALL OF WKTS: 1-106, 2-138, 4-162, 4-204, 5-234, 6-245.
DID NOT BAT: Yasir Shah, Usman Qadir, Ehsan Adil, Mohammad Imran Khan, Aizaz Cheema.
BOWLING: Steyn 18-4-67-0; Philander 15-3-39-2 (2nb); Morkel 12-3-26-1 (1w); Kleinveldt 13-1-43-0 (2nb); Peterson 13-3-42-1; Imran Tahir 10-1-34-0; Kallis 4-0-12-0; Duminy 12-0-30-0 (1nb); du Plessis 3-0-13-0.
SOUTH AFRICA (2nd Innings):
J.P. Duminy c Rizwan b Ehsan 23
F. du Plessis retired out 42
R.J. Peterson c Rizwan b Usman 16
V.D. Philander not out 11
M. Morkel not out 14
EXTRAS (LB-1, W-2) 3
TOTAL (for three wkts, 31.5 overs) 109
FALL OF WKTS: 1-37, 2-84, 3-85.
BOWLING: Ehsan Adil 7-1-24-1; Mohammad Imran Khan 4-0-12-0 (2w); Aizaz Cheema 6-1-13-0; Yasir Shah 9-2-32-0; Usman Qadir 5.5-0-27-1.
RESULT: Match drawn.
UMPIRES: Ahsan Raza and Shozab Raza.
PLAYERS PER SIDE: 13 (11 batting, 11 fielding).
