CENTURION: Returning pacer Mohammad Abbas’s six-wicket haul went in vain as South Africa held their nerves calm to edge past Pakistan by two wickets in the first here at the SuperSport Park on Sunday and qualified for the World Test Championship (WTC) final.
South Africa’s tailenders Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen displayed nerves of steel and put together a match-winning 51-run partnership to defy Pakistan’s comeback.
The duo batted sensibly to recover their side from 99/6 after Abbas’s six-fer.
The eventful day kicked off with the home side resuming their innings from 27/3 through Aiden Markram and skipper Temba Bavuma, while chasing a modest 148.
The duo stretched their overnight partnership to 43 runs until Abbas cleaned up Markram, who scored 37 off 63 deliveries with the help of six boundaries.
The returning pacer soon got rid of South Africa’s batting mainstay Bavuma to open the floodgates.
The skipper remained the top-scorer for the Proteas Men with a cautious 40 off 78 deliveries, comprised of four fours and a six.
The next over saw Naseem Shah finally opening his account by castling wicketkeeper batter Kyle Verreynne, who made just two.
Mohammad Abbas further pushed South Africa to the backfoot by dismissing David Bedingham (14) and debutant Corbin Bosch (zero) on successive deliveries, reducing the home side to 99/8.
Following the catastrophic collapse, Marco Jansen and Kagiso Rabada fought well to take the hosts’ total to 116/8 with a crucial 17-run partnership.
When the lunch was taken, Rabada was unbeaten on 10, while Jansen had made five.
For Pakistan, Mohammad Abbas has taken six wickets thus far, while Naseem and Khurram Shahzad picked one.