Defiant Pakistan leave Proteas needing 41 for victory

PAKISTAN put up a valiant rearguard batting effort to prevent the Standard Bank Proteas completing back-to-back three-day wins in the Castle Lager Test match at PPC Newlands on Saturday. In the end they just succeeded in wiping out the Proteas massive first innings advantage of 254 runs and the home side will have to come back on Sunday morning to start their second innings needing 41 runs for victory. Aiden Markram suffered a bruised thigh while fielding, giving uncapped substitute fielder Zubayr Hamza the chance to take his maiden catch in Test cricket, and is unlikely to bat in the second innings. The Proteas have a more than adequate back-up opening batsman in Quinton de Kock. In spite of Pakistan’s resistance the Proteas might well have finished the game inside three days as Pakistan had a lead of only 24 runs when Vernon Philander took what appeared to be the visitors’ final wicket. But the umpires checked with the third umpire for a no ball which was duly confirmed, giving Pakistan the chance to extend their innings sufficiently to ensure play went into the fourth day. At one stage it looked as though Pakistan might even set the Proteas a challenging target when Shan Masood and Asad Shafiq put together an exhilarating display of batting that saw the visitors score 140 runs off 25 overs in the afternoon session.
When the pair were parted they had shared a stand of 132 which was only one short of the Pakistan third-wicket partnership record against South Africa. Dale Steyn made the key breakthrough in getting rid of Masood (61 off 110 balls, 9 fours) and, when Asad followed 35 runs later to Philander it sparked off what has become an all too familiar middle and lower order collapse with 5 wickets falling for 53 runs.
Babar Azam did his best to rally the tail and farm the strike before being ninth man out to Kagiso Rabada (72 off 87 balls, 15 fours).
Rabada (4/61) and Steyn (4/85) did the bulk of the damage. The Sunfoil Education Trust (SET) has benefited to the tune of R415 000 from the number of fours and sixes hit and wickets taken by the two sides in the series with the running tally for the current match being R210 000. The players on both sides score income for the fund by hitting boundaries (R1 000) and sixes (R2 000) and taking wickets (R2 500)