close
Thursday March 28, 2024

Pakistan avoid innings defeat, delay South Africa victory charge

By AFP
January 06, 2019

CAPE TOWN: Half-centuries by Shan Masood, Asad Shafiq and Babar Azam enabled Pakistan to avoid an innings defeat and take the second Test against South Africa at Newlands into the fourth day.

Pakistan were bowled out in the last over of the third day for 294 on Saturday, leaving South Africa 41 runs to win.

A provision for an extra half hour was not used because only 20 minutes or five overs of play would have been possible.

Shan hit a composed 61 and Asad and Babar both played aggressively to score 88 and 72 respectively.

Dale Steyn and Kagiso Rabada both took four wickets to get South Africa to the brink of victory.

Steyn drew level with Richard Hadlee of New Zealand in tenth place on 431 wickets on the all-time Test wicket-takers list.

Shan and Asad shared the most enterprising partnership of the match when they put on 132 in 132 minutes off 168 balls for the third wicket.

Asad and Shan came together at 27 for 2 in the 11th over of Pakistan’s second innings, following the dismissal of Azhar Ali to a shooter from Rabada that pinned him plumb on the front pad for 6.

In the first hour of the morning, South Africa’s tail had biffed a quick 49 runs to take their lead to a daunting 254, and that surely seemed enough to see off a side that had not passed 200 in any of its previous three innings of the series.

But Asad and Shan had other ideas. Shan had been promoted to open in place of the misfiring Fakhar Zaman after making an attractive 44 in the first innings, and responded with another unruffled performance that was at odds with the skittish efforts around him.

But it was Asad’s injection of intent after the lunch break that turned Pakistan’s innings from one of dour survival to something approaching a genuine counterattack.

Asad had to ride his luck early on, with both Philander and Duanne Olivier finding awkward lift from a good length to threaten his gloves and ribs.

But, having laced a brace of enterprising cuts for four through backward point, his innings went into overdrive after taking on another Olivier bouncer, and top-edging a six over fine leg.

Steyn finally broke the stand when Shan was caught behind by wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock and Philander followed up having Asad caught behind after a sparkling innings in which he hit 12 fours and a six in facing 118 balls.

Asad had looked set to make his second century in successive appearances at Newlands after he made 111 in the 2012/13 fixture between the two countries.

A mini-collapse followed but Babar batted well with

the tail in scoring 72 off

87 balls.

Fakhar’s grim tour continued when he made an utter hash of a cross-batted mow at Rabada, who ran back in his followthrough to complete a steepling catch, and when the skipper Sarfraz Ahmed was done in by Olivier — his lbw adjudged to be clipping the bails by roughly the same margin that Temba Bavuma’s had been missing in the first innings — Pakistan were 220 for 6 and freefalling.

Babar was ninth out, caught at first slip off Rabada when Pakistan were only 16 runs ahead 15 minutes before the scheduled close.

A second successive

win for South Africa inside three days seemed likely when Mohammad Abbas was caught off Philander seven minutes and eight runs later when the extra half hour would have been enough to finish the match.

But after checking a replay, Philander was no-balled and Abbas and last man Shaheen Afridi took the game into a fourth day.

Score Board

South Africa won toss

Pakistan 1st Innings 177 all out (Sarfraz 56; Olivier 4-48)

South Africa 1st Innings

A Markram b Shan 78

D Elgar c Sarfraz b Amir 20

H Amla b Abbas 24

T de Bruyn c Babar b Shaheen 13

*F du Plessis c Sarfraz b Shaheen 103

T Bavuma c Sarfraz b Shaheen 75

†Q de Kock c Asad b Amir 59

V Philander b Amir 16

K Rabada b Amir 11

D Steyn c Fakhar b Shaheen 13

D Olivier not out 10

Extras (b5, lb1, nb3) 9

Total (all out; 124.1 overs) 431

Fall: 1-56, 2-123, 3-126, 4-149, 5-305, 6-356, 7-394, 8-407, 9-408, 10-431

Bowling: Amir 33-9-88-4, Abbas 34-8-100-1, Shaheen 27.1-3-123-4, Yasir 21-1-79-0, Shan 5-1-19-1, Asad 4-0-16-0

Pakistan 2nd Innings

Imam-ul-Haq c Elgar b Steyn 6

Shan Masood c De Kock b Steyn 61

Azhar Ali lbw b Rabada 6

Asad Shafiq c De Kock b Philander 88

Babar Azam c Amla b Rabada 72

Fakhar Zaman c and b Rabada 7

*†Sarfraz Ahmed lbw b Olivier 6

Mohammad Amir c De Kock b Steyn 0

Yasir Shah c sub (Hamza) b Steyn 5

Mohammad Abbas not out 10

Shaheen Afridi c Philander b Rabada 14

Extras (b9, lb4, nb4, w2) 19

Total (all out; 70.4 overs) 294

Fall: 1-10, 2-27, 3-159, 4-194, 5-201, 6-220, 7-221, 8-247, 9-270, 10-294

Bowling: Philander 19-6-51-1, Steyn 19-2-85-4, Olivier 16-3-84-1, Rabada 16.4-2-61-4

Umpires: Bruce Oxenford (Australia) and Joel Wilson (West Indies). TV umpire: Sundaram Ravi (India). Match referee: David Boon (Australia)