Amla rues missing ton but happy with fine start

 KARACHI: South Africa batsman Hashim Amla on Monday rued an opportunity to score his second Test hundred but was also happy that he and other team’s batsmen have given the tourists a solid start in the opening Test against Pakistan.
“We did well today and I’m confident we will capitalize on it tomorrow and score more than 500 runs which would be excellent on a track which I believe will deteriorate and will be difficult to bat on during the final two days,” said the 24-year-old batsman, who scored 71 and shared a big 170-run stand for the third wicket with century-maker Jaques Kallis on the opening day of the Karachi Test.
Amla, the only Indian-origin cricketer to play Tests for South Africa, enjoyed the batting-friendly conditions in spite of the hot weather. “The conditions were favourable for batting. It was certainly hot but thankfully there was a breeze that made things a bit better.”
Amla said South Africa were lucky that skipper Graeme Smith won the toss and the batsmen managed to put some runs on the board. He said that there is some turn in the wicket for the spinners but predicted that it would assist the slow bowlers a lot more on day four and five.
In spite of the fact that the National Stadium track has nothing for the fast bowlers, the Durban-born Amla was surprised over Pakistan’s decision to go into the opening Test with four spinners and just two pacers.
“It was quite unusual to face two pacers and four spinners,” he said.
Amla, who has scored 616 runs from 13 Tests at an average of 25.66, praised Kallis for his aggressive knock of 118 not out. “Kallis took the attack to the bowlers and by scoring at a fast pace he took pressure off the team.”