da betcris： Rain overnight andcloud cover for most of the afternoon meant play stopped 15 overs short,though to many that might have been a relief given that only 199 runs hadbeen scored in the 75 available.
Osman Samiuddin at Karachi29-Nov-2006
Blaster turns grafter: Mohammad Hafeez evokes the tone of the day © Getty Images
Test cricket went back in time on the third day of the final Test betweenPakistan and the West Indies at the National Stadium. Rain overnight andcloud cover for most of the afternoon meant play stopped 15 overs short,though to many that might have been a relief given that only 199 runs hadbeen scored in the 75 available.Mohammad Hafeez, a raucous Twenty20 opener for Faisalabad when not openingfor Pakistan, put together a studious fifty, his fourth in Tests. It was,from just over three-and-a-half hours, his slowest, and the improvisedstrokes so readily seen in his limited-overs performances were all butabsent here, replaced by stodgy defense and plenty of streaky edgesthrough third man.”You have to really graft on this pitch,” Hafeez told reporters at the endof the day. “It is difficult but to be a good player you have to be ableto do it on all types of wickets. On the first day there was a lot ofvariation in the bounce but that is not there now. It still isn’t easyespecially for playing shots on.”Along with Imran Farhat, the start was particularly tortuous. Farhat tookhis first run off his 18th ball, there were only two boundaries in thefirst 15 overs and after 24 overs, they had eked out only 45. In part,the West Indian bowling attack can be blamed for this, as Hafeezacknowledged. “They bowled superbly to us at the beginning, especially(Corey) Collymore who was very difficult to play. The idea was to see off the newball. We would take our time but set ourselves.”The caution may also have arisen from circumstance, especially in Hafeez’scase. A fifty in the very first innings of this series should have led tobigger, brighter things but pretty starts were frittered. Bowledbetween bat and pad twice has also raised concerns about his technique andfootwork; another failure here would have put severe pressure on hisposition in the side.”The wickets in this series have had low bounce. There are very fewpitches like this at domestic level where the balls come on higher, fasterand seam more. Adjusting to low bounce wickets has been the difficultthing to do.”When I made my comeback in England, the captain and coach really gave melots of confidence. In this series I know I haven’t made big scores butthey are still backing me and that support has helped,” he added.He wasn’t the only batsman to make an important fifty today. Earlier inthe morning, Denesh Ramdin had to take over the West Indian cause afterthe dismissal of Daren Ganga in the day’s fifth over. Like Hafeez it washis fourth in Tests, though an altogether punchier affair. And for gettinghis side within 44 runs of Pakistan’s first innings total, it was a timelyinnings.”After Ganga fell I had to take things up on my own and try to buildpartnerships with the tail. We wanted to get as close as possible to thePakistan score,” Ramdin said.He had struggled initially against the spin of Danish Kaneria, edging thelegspinner through Kamran Akmal’s legs for four early. But once the newball was taken, he unveiled a surprisingly wide array of strokes. “Thepitch is playing better now and there is something in it for bowlers andbatsmen. There was a bit more bounce today. But I take this as one of mybest fifties. I needed to show character and had to bat with the lowerorder as well, which we have done.”Pakistan ended the day 174 runs ahead with eight wickets in hand. Thepitch hasn’t deteriorated as many thought it might, to the extent thatHafeez suggested only a target of 350-plus would be a safe one. MohammadYousuf is at the crease, record in sight, stunning form behind him andwith Hafeez keen to continue to a second Test hundred, setting such atarget is not as far-fetched as it might have appeared on the first two days.