Day 1 in Pindi bears stark resemblance to Lahore first day as Pakistan won the toss, lost a wicket, and then rebuilt.
Day 1 in Pindi = first day in Lahore.
The orange sun was ready to go to sleep for another day. When Babar Azam’s now-customarily short stint at the crease came to a tepid end, the most of the admirers who had gathered in the Pindi cricket venue to watch him bat had left. The Test match appeared to be wrapping up loose ends on the pitch so that everything would be ready for tomorrow. However, South Africa and Pakistan fought for just enough of the prizes to proclaim victory in the final 30 minutes of the first day.
The second new ball was skilfully brought in by Kagiso Rabada to catch Mohammad Rizwan, whose review was in danger of being appealed to higher courts in an autocratic system. Pakistan lost their last five wickets in 55 balls in the first innings and their last six in 36 balls in the second, indicating their susceptibility to lower-order collapses in both Test innings. When Rizwan was dismissed with 37 balls remaining, both teams realised how crucial the next few balls would be.
Salman Ali Agha and Saud Shakeel managed to hold out for an uncomfortable standoff, sending the sun down the sky unscathed, but it demonstrated how the tone of the day had shifted almost imperceptibly at first. For the most part, Pakistan seemed to have stuck Gaddafi’s first day into a top-notch photocopy because of how strikingly similar the beginnings of each Test are.
South Africa’s generosity in the field, where they threw away chances for amusement, helped them win the toss both times and bounce back after losing an early wicket with a massive second-wicket stand. With every hour that went by, the wicket got worse for batting, and Pakistan appeared to be ensuring South Africa’s doom once again.
In Monday’s first session, which he dubbed the “moving session,” Keshav Maharaj discussed the necessity of breaking the sixth-wicket stand. However, if this Test continues to follow its predecessor, Pakistan did found themselves in precarious position when they lost their fifth wicket in Lahore, at 199, before a 163-run sixth wicket partnership cost the visitors the match.
They let up those 163 in 42.1 overs, slightly under four runs per over, after taking the fifth wicket in Lahore in the 60th over. Before stumps were called, Agha and Rizwan had amassed 114 runs in that evening session, taking advantage of South Africa’s hurry.
The visitors would avoid that error in Pindi, employing Maharaj to delay an end before the wickets arrived. South Africa chose patience over zeal as the last two sessions cost just 164 at less than 2.7 runs.
For South Africa, the fact that the day even ends is a win in and of itself. While batting under ideal circumstances, Pakistan benefited from their opponent’s goodwill in the field and the luck of the toss. According to Shafique, his team ended the day without using that blueprint to pull clear, even if the pitch hadn’t exactly slowed down.
Both the first Test, which began Pakistan’s ongoing experiment with spin-friendly surfaces, and the second Test against England in Multan a year ago ended with the same degree of uncertainty that has marked Monday. As the two teams walked away, Pakistan’s score was exactly the same as it was on Monday: 259 for 5.
In Pakistan, perhaps every day is the same as Pakistan tries to transform every home surface into something worth spinning.