CENTURION: Marco Jansen and Kagiso Rabada inflicted a top-order collapse to strengthen South Africa’s grip on the opening Test of the two-match series against Pakistan here at the SuperSport Park on Friday.
At the stumps on day two, the touring side were struggling at 88/3 with star batter Babar Azam and wicketkeeper batter Mohammad Rizwan on strike.
The visitors, however, got off to a flying start to their second innings as skipper Shan Masood and Saim Ayub knitted a rampant 49-run partnership.
The duo charged on the South African bowlers by hitting boundaries consistently until Rabada broke the stand by dismissing Saim, who scored 28 off 36 deliveries with the help of six fours.
His opening partner Masood, followed the suit six overs later when he was caught in the slip cordon off Jansen. He also made 28.
The green shirts lost their third wicket two overs when Kamran Ghulam tasted the same fate against Jansen after scoring a mere four.
The visitors are still trailing by two runs with seven wickets in hand and would hope for a massive partnership to set South Africa a defendable total.
The right-handed batter dominated spirited Pakistan’s bowling attack, who were fuelled with momentum after reducing the home side to 213/8.
Bosch turned the tide back in the hosts’ favour as he pushed their total past the 300-run mark with an unbeaten 81 off just 93 deliveries and comprised of 15 boundaries.
He was involved in one-sided partnerships with tailenders Kagiso Rabada (13) and Dane Paterson (12), who also made vital contributions at the backend.
Pakistan forced a comeback in the early phase of the eventful second session as the touring side took three wickets in quick succession including the prized scalp of Aiden Markram.
Markam remained the top-scorer for the Proteas with a gritty 89, studded with 15 boundaries.
For Pakistan, Khurram Shahzad and Naseem Shah took three wickets each, while Aamir Jamal bagged two. Returning Mohammad Abbas and Saim Ayub shared two between them.
Earlier in the day, Markram and Bavuma resumed South Africa’s response to Pakistan’s 211 and frustrated the touring side’s bowlers with a cautious stand.
The duo added 70 runs for the fourth wicket until Aamir Jamal got rid of the South African captain, who made a significant contribution with his 31-run knock.
Markram was then involved in another important partnership for the hosts when he added 42 runs for the fifth wicket with David Bedingham.
The middle-order dominated the stand with his brisk 30 off 33 deliveries before falling victim to Naseem Shah.
South Africa could add two more runs to their total before the Lunch and were 180/5 in 46 overs, with Aiden Markram unbeaten on 81.
For Pakistan, Khurram Shahzad bagged two wickets, while Mohammad Abbas, Jamal and Naseem shared three between them.
- Aiden Markram