Dubai: South Africa skipper Graeme Smith and vice-captain AB de Villiers put on a mammoth unbeaten 326 runs for the fifth wicket to virtually shatter Pakistan’s dreams of a series win over the world’s No.1 ranked team in the second Test at the Dubai international Cricket Stadium on Thursday.
Smith, who cracked an unbeaten and chanceless 227 runs and De Villiers’s unconquered 157, helped the Proteas dominate the Pakistan bowling for 78.2 overs.
In response to a question from Gulf News about how he felt going past the 9,000-run mark in Tests and whether he is eyeing a triple century, to surpass his career-best score of 277 against England at Birmingham, Smith said: “To be honest I wasn’t thinking about those things today but, you know, I don’t think I have ever been the most talented. I found the way how to score runs and understand how to do it and mentally found the way. Opening the batting for South Africa has its challenges, so it is a big tick for me in terms of what I am able to achieve in my career. There is a lot more I want to do, but these are small milestones that make you very proud and there are not very many people that get to these points. Not too many opening batters in particular, so I’m extremely happy with the support I’ve got over the years.”
Smith and De Villiers are great friends and this was reflected when they expressed their joy at scoring their tons by hugging each other. “To me to score a double hundred in the sub-continent, with the heat, is something I am proud of and to have such a big partnership with AB [De Villiers]. I think he is a world-class player and we came together at a key moment in the game. We are good friends and it was awesome to share the occasion and the milestone with each other,” said Smith, who is confident of a victory in this Test match.
“I would like to think we are in a position we could win. You know, in sports you can’t predict anything. We could like to come out tomorrow and work ourselves in a position where we feel that we have got enough runs to go and win the game. I think the wicket is deteriorating and it is going to offer us a good opportunity. We have definitely got an attack that can take advantage if we get a very big lead.”
