South Africa preserve away record in Test series
South Africa's unbeaten run in Test series on the road will extend further after their victory in Dubai, which allowed them to share the spoils of this two-match rubber with Pakistan
South Africa's unbeaten run in Test series on the road will extend further after their victory in Dubai, which allowed them to share the spoils of this two-match rubber with Pakistan
Scorer: Gopi Rangarajan | Commentator: George Binoy
4.30 pm Tahir's been a star for South Africa with the ball and he leaves the field with a souvenir stump. Graeme smith and AB de Villiers were immense as well, with colossal batting performances. The innings-and-92-run victory means South Africa have prolonged their seven-year unbeaten record away from home.
Pakistan fought hard today. Misbah and Shafiq denied South Africa a wicket for almost two sessions, but just before tea Misbah gave it all away to Dean Elgar, and from then on it was a matter of time before the remaining four wickets fell.
I'll bring you the news from the presentation ceremony shortly.
Badal Kumar: "Badal : South Africa completes the astounding win against Pakistan. That's some hammering from No. 1 Team .. What an incredible record not to loose the Test series outside South-Africa for 7 years.. .."
Speaking of rankings, a drawn series against the No. 1 team has moved Pakistan up to No. 4 in the Test ladder.
Harish Paddy: "Let's not call it a "series" and pretend it is one. This two-test draw is just screaming out for a third test. 1-1 going into the third test would have been a mouth-watering prospect. It's a shame that administrators are allowed to get away with staging 2 tests and calling it a "series".
The presentation is about to begin ...
Misbah-ul-Haq: "After winning the toss, especially the first session in the Test, we could have really done better than that. 99 all out was the reason for this failure. Even if we had scored 200 it could have been a different story. AB and Graeme Smith batted really well on a pitch that was turning. Once you are 400 runs behind in the first innings it is really hard to come back."
Misbah admits that he made a mistake against Elgar and said if he and Shafiq had batted through the day it could have been a different story. He says this second innings performance is a morale booster for the ODIs.
Oliver Jones: "@Harish - I totally agree. It often happens with South Africa - Australia series. And even Zimbabwe - Pakistan series recently deserved a 3rd test. Yes, sometimes you're going to get one-sided series, but 2 test series are almost pointless. 3 should be a minimum!"
Graeme Smith is the Man of the Match for his double century. And the Man of the series is AB de Villiers, for his 273 runs in the series.
AB de Villiers: "Closer to an 8/10 (in terms of performance). We improved a hell of a lot, a great comeback from the No. 1 team. Always enjoyed batting with Graeme, he's got a great temperament. It was exhausting, very hot, the fact that we extended that partnership for over 300 runs was very satisfying."
The two captains go up to receive the trophy.
Graeme Smith: "It was an outstanding four days for us, to respond in these conditions where I don't think Pakistan have lost before. Pakistan were sharper than us in the first game and we got better as the series went on. We got most things right in this game. Anytime you bowl a team out for 99 you've gone a way ahead in the Test match and Tahir was a big part of that. (About his 200) It's a long road back from injury and it was great to be able to perform ..."
Osman: "A part from 1st innings of Second test match, Pakistan played a decent series. They crossed 400 mark against best bowling attack and won the first test. It was just one bad day and you can't bash and blame the team for whole series. They should take the positives and people from Pakistan should back their team and appreciate for regaining 4th test rank and leveling the series against no.1 side."
That's about it from us for today, we'll be back for the one-dayers that begin in a few days' time. Thank you for all your emails through the Test. Cheers.
Asad Shafiq st †de Villiers b Duminy 130 (411m 320b 15x4 1x6) SR: 40.62
Not many things went right for Pakistan in the second Test in Dubai, but Asad Shafiq's fighting century against the best Test side in the world, proved that he has the temperament to lead Pakistan's next generation of batsmen
It took a little longer than appear likely at one stage, but South Africa's comfortably victory extends a formidable overseas sequence which vindicates their No. 1 status
Misbah-ul-Haq has suggested that Pakistan need a stronger first-class system to help them become a more consistent Test side
Saeed Ajmal has received an official reprimand after pleading guilty to a Level 1 breach of the ICC Code of Conduct, on the third day of the Dubai Test against South Africa
South Africa's unbeaten run in Test series on the road will extend further after their victory in Dubai, which allowed them to share the spoils of this two-match rubber with Pakistan