Sarfraz, Paine heap praise on Australia’s wrecker-in-chief

ABU DHABI: Rival captains Sarfraz Ahmed and Tim Paine were unanimous in their praise of wicket-taking sensation Mohammad Abbas, who helped Pakistan thrash Australia in the second Test in Abu Dhabi on Friday.

Abbas finished with 10 for 95 for the match after taking 5 for 33 in the first innings, ending up as man-of-the-series with 17 wickets in two Tests.Sarfraz claimed Australia weren’t ready for Abbas, who was also named man-of-the-series on Pakistan’s trip to England earlier this year.

“Looks like they hadn’t prepared for Abbas, they took him a little easy,” said Sarfraz.Australia entered the two-Test series focused on the threat of leg-spinner Yasir Shah, although he managed just eight wickets.

“But credit goes to Abbas, because the pitch is not suitable for fast bowlers,” said Sarfraz. “The way he bowled, he was the best bowler on either side. The way he bowled throughout he was the main factor for us winning the series.”

Abbas took seven wickets in the first Test which Australia drew after a determined fightback on the fifth day in Dubai.Paine agreed with Sarfraz’s assessment of Abbas, the first Pakistani fast bowler to take a 10-wicket haul in a Test since Mohammad Asif against Sri Lanka at Kandy in 2006.

“Abbas is a world-class bowler,” said Paine.“He (Abbas) challenged our defence and was too good for us. Yasir didn’t get the wickets, but he bowled just as well. Over here, one of the things our bowlers talked about was building pressure from both ends. That is what Pakistan did really well together.”