And another good morning...

Inshallah Pakistan can bank on another win today. I'm not jinxing it but Pakistan have played well today to restrict South Africa to 194 all out. Even with the almost half centuries from Smith and Kemp, South Africa's batting line-up struggled and no-one else could manage to get more than 20 runs. It's very sad...but yay for Pakistan!

Shahid Afridi and Iftikhar Anjum picked up 3 wickets a piece and Umar Gul got two, restricting the South Africans nicely before cleaning up the tail.

Oh crap. Pakistan are now at 58/2. Everyone got tired of waiting for Imran Nazir to click and so Afridi and Yasir Hameed were sent out to open. While it was nice to pass 5 overs without losing a wicket, Afridi went on his usual slog-out, scoring 32 from 18 balls before being caught by Smith with a good catch. Yasir is a bit expensive though. Yes he can stay at the crease, but he doesn't score much and went out for 18 after 46 balls. Another Salman Butt maybe?

Oh well, now Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan are at the crease and let's hope they can take Pakistan to the end. This match shouldn't be too hard to win...we are staying above the required run rate, which is a nice low 3.65. No-one should get complacent though and since I had a terrible dream about the match last night, I will seriously be praying for the best.

There isn't any confirmation about whether the last match in Karachi is going to be played but officials say:
"A South African security official will go to Karachi today to assess the situation on the ground there...He is expected to report back tomorrow afternoon after which the situation will become clearer."

Ok, and that's it for today. Pakistan are at 63/2...even if they can't go to Karachi, at least set Faisalabad alight.

Come on boys!

Does Hafeez suck that much? Yes!

Hi all and a busy afternoon. It feels so weird...I think I might have attended my last lecture of campus life...and I have no idea what's around the corner. Oh well, at least the Pakistan team know what's happening with them, even if I don't.

Some news today, which I'll be mostly linking since I'm so out of it.

Pakistan is getting tired of the suckiness that Mohammad Hafeez displays and so have replaced him with Khalid Latif. I have no idea who this guy is, but apparently he did well against Australia A. He's supposed to be a much more reliable opener than the current lot, and he may play in the match after next. Cool, it would be nice to see us with a few runs on the board and not being two down.

I guess that's a plus, but Mohammad Asif is still out for the next match tomorrow, since he hasn't recovered from his elbow injury and it's being considered resting him for the whole series, so he'll be fit for the tour of India. While there is the option of Shoaib Akhtar for the final match (his ban will run out by then), it's still a question whether the final will even be played, as it happens in Karachi, where all the bombs and crap are going on. -Roll eyes-

Finally, Pakistan are putting their feet down and will fight to protect one of their best batsman, after discovering there's a possibility that Mohammad Yousuf could be taken to court for cancelling his contract with the rebel Indian Cricket League.

Naseem Ashraf, chairman of the PCB says:

"The ICL cannot prevent him from playing for Pakistan. Yousuf signed a contract for them but later he cancelled it and since the ICL has not started yet, any other player or he can do this,"

Big words man, big words. Can I say how typical it is for Indian's to screw things up? Lol, but I won't and it's wrong. Cheers all!

And isn't it a beautiful morning?

No-one call the cops. I'm not on drugs just very very very happy. Does anyone want to hear me sing? because I'll do it. Seriously, take cover.

Ok, moving on to the cricket which is not that cheerful. Does 133 dead people sound cheerful to you? So let's talked about how completely screwed in the head Pakistani's are...and they are. In your bid to protest some stupid witch returning to Pakistan, you blow yourself up and take 133 people with you? What's wrong with you? Could anyone be more lacking in grey matter? You want to kill someone, hire a flippin' sniper!

So with Pakistan looking so safe at the moment, the South African's are quite scared. I don't really think they have to be, unless they change their names to Benazir Bhutto and start screwing the life out of the Pakistani's, some of them can also be Musharaf. That increases your chances of getting shot too. I don't even live in Pakistan and I'm so pissed, I can't imagine how everyone else feels.

Michael Owen-Smith, the South African's media manager says:
"The safety and security of the team is paramount at all times. We have been shocked by the news and our thoughts are with those who lost their loved ones and with those who have been injured.

"Beyond this point, we now consult Cricket South Africa officials with the PCB and with our own security consultants before taking any decision. The situation is fluid. I can't comment or speculate further as we first need to assess the incident."

We'll see what happens with that and I'll keep you updated. Next, anyone feeling the urge to play in India was participate in the Indian Premier League, a Twenty20 tournament thingy and Pakistan Cricket Board has cleared 7 players to play for it.

And finally, the pathologist who said that Bob Woolmer was strangled to death will testify next week to why he said this. Other pathologists have criticized his methods and it was his fault that the whole controversy around Woolmer's death started.

And ya, that's it for today. Have a good one!

Well, we did it again

Lost I mean. I honestly think Pakistan have a bit of a losers mentality now and things that were looking so decent yesterday...all gone and I'm pissed off.

What's wrong with our team? While it would have been great if they could have won, at least a draw should have been on the cards. How hard is it to stay at the wicket? Even while not scoring runs. Younis Khan and Salman Butt were doing that the whole Twenty20!

Younis managed to get his Test century, yippee for him, but I don't think just because he went out that was a signal for the rest of the team to collapse! We now had Misbah-ul-Haq and Shoaib Malik at the crease...I was hoping for near-centuries for both of them...hah, talk about being delusional. Misbah went out lbw and every other player after him went out with single figures. It's a flippin' test match! You play the shots you can, leave the shots you can't...it isn't brain surgery.

Yes, I'm bitter, yes, I'm angry, but why shouldn't I be? Another fiasco that we shouldn't have lost, but Pakistan keep losing their heads...I think we should sedate the whole team before they come out to play...maybe they won't have the clearest minds but we won't be seeing any wild or stupid shots. Pakistan also have to stop being so generous...stop making average players look like brilliant stars!

Rant over. Now I'm just going to wait for the next match.

Pakistan is so irritating!

But I love them. I gave this match up for lost...at best, a tie and Pakistan should and would have been happy with that. This is the new Pakistan however, and the days of lying down and being sat on like a fat woman on the toilet are gone. There will always be someone fighting, right to the end...and that's the start of something great.

Ok, I know we're not out of the rough yet, but this match could go both ways and tomorrow's day promises to be a cracker. South Africa started the day well and got to 264/7, before declaring and Pakistan came in to bat trailing by...um, my maths sucks, A LOT of runs, ok?

It didn't look good for Pakistan from the start, with Mohammad Hafeez throwing away his wicket in the second over. It's like he's stupid and doesn't get the concept of playing low and on the ground and IGNORING THE WIDES! Not slashing at them like a fool...while my brother says Mohammad shouldn't play for Pakistan again, I just say we need a new opener (again)...Hafeez is still handy with the ball sometimes, except he's a bit expensive.

Salman Butt went out next, on a very dodgy catch. It was an unfair out, many say, the ball hitting the ground just before being scooped up by Hashim Amla. If he saw it and still appealed, bad sportmanship I say. If he didn't...bad luck for "Thook Thook".

I think I might just forgive Younis Khan...if he can win us the match. Until then, the whole Twenty20 final fiasco is still his fault. But the man is doing what he couldn't do the whole tournament before, score runs and stay at the crease. Younis is at 93 from 99 balls, which is very good at test level. While Pakistan was hoping for a tie, Younis has put us back in the game...
I'm very very scared!

Faisal Iqbal was also playing well, taking his cue from Younis and scoring a few quick runs. Too bad he couldn't finish the day and get his 50, but Mohammad Asif is out there as the night watchman.

So should be a good game tomorrow...come on Pakistan!