Date-stamped : 02 Oct97 - 14:04 Day 1 report- Dawn South African vulnerability exposed by Ali Husain Rizvi By Samiul Hasan KARACHI, Oct 1: Leg-spinner Ali Husain Rizvi exposed South African vulnerability against spin bowling when he captured five wickets for 89 runs as the tourists opened their six-week tour of this country against a Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Combined XI here at the National Stadium on Wednesday. Ali Husain Rizvi, a 20-year-old Pakistan junior spinner who toured England with the A team and took 28 first-class wickets, however, failed to restrict the visitors reaching 305 for seven before Hansie Cronje announced declaration. At the draw of stumps, the home team had scored 46 for no loss with Ali Naqvi, lucky to be still there when a very close leg before appeal was turned down off Jacques Kallis, batting on 32 that included five fours. With him was Mohammad Ramazan on 8. Rizvi had reduced South Africa from 89 for two to 199 for six during the second session's play but Shaun Pollock pulled his team out of woods with a whirlwind unbeaten 74 sparkled with 10 boundaries and three sixes. Pollock struck flawless sixes and powerful boundaries to help South Africa collect 106 runs in 65 minutes of batting after tea. Pollock's contribution in those runs was an incredible 73. Pollock received useful support from Jacques Kallis who played a watchful and cautious innings of 52 that included six boundaries. Together with Pollock, Kallis added 92 runs for the seventh wicket in 76 minutes of association. Despite the fact that Ali Husain Rizvi's figures were somewhat spoiled by a late assault by Pollock, the day belonged to him as he single-handedly destroyed the South African middle-order with his crafty bowling. The performance of Rizvi must have brought smiles on the faces of Pakistan spinners Saqlain Mushtaq and Mushtaq Ahmad - specially the latter - as South Africa play three Tests against Pakistan with the opener starting at Rawalpindi from Oct 6. The two world-class and the best spin bowling partners will have a great chance to pick wickets and help the home team compensate for their own weakness in the middle-order in the absence of Salim Malik. However, South African skipper refused to give credit to Ali Husain Rizvi for his brilliant performance. "We played shots that are normally played in three-day games. If any spinner bowls the number of overs he delivered, that bowler will also have a good chance of getting that many wickets. "I am sure we will not be playing the strokes that got us in Test matches." Nevertheless, the PCB Combined XI coach, Agha Zahid dismissed the opinion of Cronje saying: "He has taken five wickets and that is a great performance. He bowled brilliantly and deceived them in the air and off the wicket. How can anyone take credit away from him." Rizvi started the South African demolition immediately after lunch after Aamir Sohail had wisely changed his end to bring him from the pavilion end. In his first over after the lunch break, Rizvi had Gary Kirsten (27) caught in the slips and a couple of balls later ended a breezy innings of 45 by Daryll Cullinan who hit eight boundaries and a six in his 64-ball knock. Cullinan was caught in the slips by Ramazan while trying to drive a good length ball that was also turning across him. Hansie Cronje briefly applied the tactics that he used against Shane Warne in Test matches against Australia by sweeping Rizvi and that strategy fetched him three fours and a six in his 34. But Rizvi had the final laugh when Cronje again tried to put a flipper out of the mid-wicket boundary only to see his castle behind him get destroyed. Jonty Rhodes also concentrated more on sweeping Rizvi and paid the price when he was bowled round his legs. Rhodes scored 35 with five fours from 56 balls. Rizvi completed his five-wicket haul when Kallis tried to drive a ball spinning away from him to be smartly caught by wicketkeeper Javed Qadeer. Earlier in the day, Cronje won the toss and decided to bat before more than 1,000 policemen and handful of spectators. But the decision appeared to backfire when paceman Abdul Razzak claimed the wickets of Adam Bacher and Brian McMillan. Bacher was adjudged leg before while playing back and McMillan was caught by Javed Qadeer while fishing outside the off-stump. Day 2 report- Dawn S. Africa in commanding position against PCB XI By Samiul Hasan KARACHI, Oct 2: Leg-spinner Ali Husain Rizvi strengthened his claim for a Test call when he added three more wickets to his first innings five but South Africa were in a commanding position in their three-day six-week tour opener at the National Stadium here on Thursday. When an early closure was made 13 minutes before time because of fading light, South Africa, who had declared their first innings at 305 for seven, were 152 for five after having dismissed the home team for a paltry 132 shortly after lunch. The visitors could have forced a follow-on but preferred batting practice for the three-Test series opener starting at Rawalpindi from Oct 6. They now enjoy an overall lead of 325 with five second knock wickets still standing. While the home team collapsed like a pack of cards by losing their all 10 wickets for the addition of just 40 runs, Pakistan A spinner Ali Husain Rizvi excelled for the second time in the match when he mesmerised the South Africans with his crafty and intelligent bowling. The 20-year-old spinner extracted enough help from a wicket tailor-made for the batsmen and created problems for the batsmen with his flippers. He was also deceptive in the air but what is still lacking in him are his googlies. His wrong 'uns turn very little and it is this delivery which he needs to master. "He is a splendid and exciting bowler but inexperienced. The more he will play, the more he will learn," skipper Aamir Sohail said about Ali Husain Rizvi. Rizvi only had a full domestic season last year in which he captured 54 wickets at 20.18. He also toured England with the Pakistan A team and had a haul of 23 wickets at 35.73. "I am not complacent. I know I have got wickets but I still have a lot to learn. I assume this is just an ideal start to a hard and demanding career," Rizvi, who conceded 26 runs in the second innings, said. While Rizvi is having an excellent match in which he has so far taken eight wickets for 115 runs from 50 overs, discarded Aamir Sohail had the worst possible match which was billed as his career-extending game provided he had got some runs. To start with, he caught a sinus problem before even entering the field and then he got the first ball duck - courtesy a magnificent catch by Jacques Kallis at gully. Ali Naqvi, who was luckily to be at the crease when play resumed this morning, however, batted extremely well to score 61 runs from 76 balls with 11 hits to the fence. Naqvi had his share of luck this morning also when he was dropped at gully by Gary Kirsten when he was 42. Mohammad Ramazan also batted well for his 32 that included five boundaries. The rest of the batsmen showed that they just didn't deserve the cricket they were playing. The off-spin of Pat Symcox and the unorthodox Paul Adams destroyed them completely. In fact, when the latter bowls his first ball of the second innings, he will be on hat-trick after getting the wickets of Shoaib Malik and Shoaib Akhtar on successive deliveries. Adam, popularly known as frog in the blender for his unusual bowling style, finished with three for 11. Symcox, nevertheless, demolished the home middle-order in a six-spell burst to finish with four for 25. South Africa, instead of forcing a follow-on, decided to have final serious warm-out and were provided with a flying start of 105 in 124 minutes by Gary Kirsten and Adam Bacher. But in a space of seven runs, the two and Brian McMillan returned to the pavilion. The fall of Jonty Rhodes (7) and Jacques Kallis (4) made the South Africans five down and could easily have been six had Mohammad Ramazan not dropped a sitter of Daryll Cullinan off Shoaib Malik. Cullinan was batting on 26 and with him was Hansie Cronje on 3. Gary Kirsten played delightful strokes to all parts of the field to stroke 10 exquisite boundaries in his 96-ball 61. Bacher played a baby innings by just pushing and nudging the ball around to score 40 from 90 balls that didn't include any boundary. Besides Rizvi's three for 26, Shoaib Malik was also impressive with two for 60. Friday is the last day of the match. Naqvi celebrates Test call with brilliant century By Samiul Hasan KARACHI, Oct 3: Opener Ali Naqvi celebrated his call for the first Test against South Africa starting from Monday with a brilliant century as the tourists three-day match with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) XI ended in a tame draw here at the National Stadium on Friday. Final scores were: SOUTH AFRICA: 305-7 dec and 254-8 dec. PCB COMBINED XI: 132 and 237-4. Naqvi, the 20-year-old right-hander, slammed an exquisite 113 in his maiden first-class appearance on home soil after having made his debut in England where he was with the Pakistan A team earlier this summer. Naqvi struck 17 boundaries and a huge six off Pat Symcox during his 157-ball innings that lasted 198 minutes. He completed his half century from 82 balls with nine boundaries while reached the magical figures from 133 balls with 16 boundaries and a six. It was chiefly because of Naqvi's brilliance and Rana Qayyumul Hasan's impressive innings of unbeaten 83 which helped the home team finish at 237 for four after the South African's had set them an impossible victory target of 428 to win. South Africa resuming their morning had declared their second innings 40 minutes before lunch after scoring 254 for eight. Right-arm wrist spinner, Ali Husain Rizvi, improved his first innings performance of five for 89 with six for 57 to finish the match with excellent figures of 64-15-146-11. But he had to face the disappointment of missing out selection and that was well anticipated after an experienced Mushtaq Ahmad had confirmed his availability to the selectors for the forthcoming series. Ali Naqvi was in a dazzling form and aggressive mood when he drove authoritatively, cut forcefully and pulled ruthlessly. He was prefect in finding the gaps when he just angled his bat to guide the balls to the third-man boundary. However, the most enterprising aspect of Naqvi's innings was that he was pushing the ball instead of letting the ball hit his bat. "I am just dreaming. I don't want this moment to end," said an elated Naqvi, who was also the home team's first innings top scorer with 61. "I think the tour of England has helped me a lot. I had some flaws in my technique but my coach (Agha Zahid) helped me in sorting out my problems. I am really grateful to him," Naqvi, who plays Grade Two cricket for HBFC, added. "Cricket in five-day game will not be different from what I have played here. The only thing to excel at that level is the mental toughness. I will concentrate harder, if provided with a chance, and will try to keep myself composed," Naqvi, who scored 362 runs in England at 27.84, added. "I concentrated on the deliveries bowled at me rather than the big bowlers who were bowling them. It was the advice of my captain (Aamir Sohail) and it has worked tremendously well," said Naqvi. Rana Qayyumul Hasan also batted well and played splendid shots during his 199-minute occupancy at the crease in which he received 147 balls out of which 10 were converted into boundaries. Qayyum, together with Naqvi, shared in a 144-run third wicket partnership in 137 minutes after Mohammad Ramazan, one of the three uncapped players named for the Test, and Ijaz Ahmad Junior were back in the dressing room with the scoreboard reading 39. Much to the surprise of the followers of the game, Aamir Sohail was refused to open the innings despite the approval of rival captain Hansie Cronje. The two umpires, Salim Badar and Riazuddin, kept stuck to the laws of the game which said that Sohail could bat after the fall of five wickets as he had skipped fielding on the second day because of illness. Earlier in the morning, South Africa were once again steered to a score of respectability by Shaun Pollock who cracked five boundaries and a six in his unbeaten 47. Ali Husain Rizvi added three more scalps to his second day's three to finish with six for 57. Rizvi, on the final day, Cronje (9), Daryll Cullinan (44) and Dave Richardson (15). Rizvi has completely exposed the weakness of the South Africans and now has passed the bucket to Saqlain Mushtaq and Mushtaq Ahmad to explore the opportunity and compensate for the brittle Pakistan batting that now looks even more ordinary. Source:: Dawn (http://dawn.com/) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)