Pakistan finished at 109 for two with Azhar Ali on 37 and Younus Khan on 11, still needing to bat out 90 overs for a draw or score a challenging 342 on a deteriorating pitch. Set 451 to win, Pakistan lost openers Mohammad Hafeez (34) and Taufeeq Umar (22) after the duo gave a confident start.
Earlier, Kallis made 135 and Amla 118 as Pakistan toiled hard against the two batsmen before Graeme Smith declared the second innings at 318 for two.
Amla and Kallis put on 242 runs for an unbroken third-wicket stand — a new record against Pakistan, beating the 207-run stand Kallis put on with Graeme Smith three years ago. Kallis was the more aggressive of the two as he hit eight boundaries and four sixes — three of those off Saeed Ajmal and one off left-armer Abdul Rehman .
Amla smashed 10 boundaries during his 225-ball stay at the crease. The 26-year-old hit nine boundaries and took 190 balls to reach three figures, his fourth this year. In the next over Kallis completed his 36th Test century off 185 balls which included seven boundaries and two sixes as Pakistan were left wondering on the field.
Waqar confident
Pakistan coach Waqar Younis remained optimistic that if his side survives the first session, they can make a game out of it.
“It’s been a tough Test for us,” said Waqar. “As we are a very young side, it hasn’t been easy but I’m pleased with the performance. Realistically it’s very hard to win from this position but if we can manage a draw it will be a like a win for us.”
Pakistan faced a similar situation in the first innings when their opening batsmen provided a good start before a familiar collapse saw them losing the last eight wickets for 72 runs. Waqar, however, said that batting needed to step up and so far it looked good after Pakistan lost two wickets in 44 overs.
“We have to show some discipline in our batting. This evening we have played 44 overs and lost only two wickets.”
Amla relishing golden run
Amla, who is now only six short of 1,000 Test runs for the calendar year, said there was no secret behind his phenomenal run of form. “I wish I had a penny for the amount of times I’ve been asked that question over the last year or so. There’s no secret. I just try to bat the way I can, not change too much and keep things simple. I don’t attribute it to anything special.”
Amla has scored four Test centuries and five One-Day International hundreds this year.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 16th, 2010.
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