Jacques Kallis

South Africa continued their rich vein of form while Pakistan continued to disappoint as they lost to South Africa in the 1st ODI of the 5 match series in Abu Dhabi. In continuation with the trend of the two T20 internationals, Pakistan batted first and collapsed yet again as Lonwabo Tsotsobe was the wrecker-in-chief with 4 wickets.

Pakistan went in with their seventh opening pair in 14 matches as Mohammed Hafeez walked in with Asad Shafiq. The latter played some wristy strokes before he pulled one straight to Hashim Amla. This brought in Younis Khan, who after a dispute with the Pakistan Cricket Board was returning to international cricket after 9 months. Hafeez and Younis played some intelligent cricket as they put on 114 for the second wicket.

And then the collapse began! Hafeez cut Botha straight to short third man and Younis was trapped right in front soon after. Tsotsobe returned to the attack and got rid of Misbah, Afridi and Razzaq in quick succession. The tailenders didn’t offer much resistance as Pakistan folded up for 206, the last 8 wickets falling for a mere 49.

South Africa’s chase didn’t begin on the brightest of notes as Smith was hit on his hand of a fiery Shoaib Akthar bouncer and was forced to retire hurt. Amla, in uncharacteristic fashion made a quickfire 35 of 29 balls before he was rapped on the pads by Ajmal. Kallis and AB de Villiers took centre stage thereon. De Villiers, who has hit a purple patch of late, made 51 before he hit one straight one back at Ajmal.  Kallis looked as solid as ever making 66 of 88 balls but the desert heat got the better of him as he had to retire hurt for cramps, making it only the fourth time in ODI history that 2 batsmen retired in the same innings. However Duminy and Ingram completed the formalities as South Africa took the lead in the 5 match series.

Tags: Abu Dhabi, Cricket, Jacques Kallis, ODI Cricket, ODI Series, Pakistan, Proteas, South Africa