Watch cricket video highlights of Pakistan tour of South Africa 2024. 1st Test between South Africa and Pakistan. Venue of the match will be Centurion.
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As he increased South Africa’s advantage to 90 runs in the first innings, Corbin Bosch maintained his incredible performance by scoring his first half-century off 46 balls and the highest score by a No. 9 batsman on debut in Test cricket. South Africa was ahead after Pakistan took most of that in their second innings but lost three wickets and was still two runs behind. After falling from 178 for 4 to 213 for 8, the hosts were in danger of blowing the chance to take the lead.
But a 41-run partnership between Bosch and Kagiso Rabada and a 47-run partnership between Bosch and Dane Paterson at the last wicket gave them a healthy lead. However, they did not capitalize on the advantage right away, and Pakistan’s opening pair of Saim Ayub and Shan Masood put on 49 inside 11 overs before they lost 3 for 25 on a day that fluctuated more due to entertainment than the caliber of the cricket. The way they were dismissed will cause both sets of batters to reflect with some resentment.
In addition to their first innings collapse, Pakistan now has to contend with evidence of varying bounce as they attempt to create a target they can defend, while South Africa’s middle order is questioned for some of their average shot choices. Bosch’s joy at finishing undefeated at 81 and receiving the new ball in the second innings of a contest in which he had a Midas touch was among those grander storylines. On 191 for 7, Bosch entered the crease with South Africa. Naseem Shah was in the midst of a lengthy ten-over stretch, and Aiden Markram was on 87.
After pulling his length back, Naseem had caused the harm on both sides of lunch. That pulled an edge off the back-foot drive to first slip, which caused a tumble, and it probed a well-set David Bedingham outside off. Naseem returned to work with the same resolve after lunch. After Kyle Verreynne played a poor drive to a ball on the fifth stump on the fourteenth ball of the second session, he was caught in the slips. Ayub put it down at gully after he tried Marco Jansen with a tighter line two overs later and drew an edge.
Since Naseem had gone too far, it wouldn’t have mattered. It didn’t take him long to correct his mistake. Jansen edged and was caught behind his next ball, which was back of a length and angled away. Markram may have been wondering if he was out of partners at that moment. With consecutive limits off Khurram Shahzad and two more off Naseem and South Africa settled, Bosch gave the solution. After Bosch reached the crease, Markram faced 14 of the 30 balls that were delivered, adding just three runs to his total before being bounced out.
A couple of deliveries just back of a length, one on a decent length, and finally the snorter were Shahzad’s way of setting him up. Unexpectedly, Markram lost by a margin against Mohammad Rizwan, falling 11 runs shy of this year’s second century. At that moment, South Africa was just two points up, and Pakistan had a chance to maintain a respectable lead, but Bosch destroyed them for the second day in a row. He had a disciplined partner in Rabada, who executed one of the game’s most spectacular cover drives. He was aggressive both on the front and back foot.
Rabada lost patience when Aamer Jamal was brought back 30 minutes before tea. He sent the ball flying toward the non-striker after swiping across the line. Babar Azam ended what was turning into a frustrating partnership for Pakistan with a brilliant catch at short midwicket, facing into the sun. With a gorgeous cover drive, Bosch would later attain his milestone and turn fifty. His debut fifty is the second-fastest by a South African. After that, Paterson blasted Abbas over long-off to score six runs and four off Jamal.
After a short rest, Naseem returned in a desperate attempt to break the lower-order resistance, bowling four more overs but failing to make the breakthrough. The lone spinner utilized in the contest thus far, Ayub, accomplished the trick with his part-time spin. Shahzad raced circles before making the grab as Paterson attempted to rocket him out of the ground but he skied it to mid-off. For the second innings, South Africa got off to a bad start with the ball. Bosch and Rabada both shared the new ball, but their first bursts were too wide and too short.
Before Temba Bavuma replaced Paterson at Bosch’s end, Ayub and Shan Masood played aggressively and sped to 41 in the first seven overs. Rabada only needed a little pressure from his first two overs, which cost him five runs, to go back to his best. He delivered a complete jaffa on a length and nipped away in his sixth over. As the ball curled to strike the top of the offstump, Ayub was unable to reach behind the line. Rabada had stats of 1 for 31 at the end of a seven-over period. Jansen replaced him and, with the bounce he produced, looked dangerous right away.
Masood managed his first over, but Jansen stretched his bat out and edged low to Tristan Stubbs at third slip after finding slightly more lift in the second over. Kamran Ghulam, who amassed 54 in the first innings, lost to Ryan Rickelton in the gully in Jansen’s subsequent over. Rickelton seemed to have fingertips under the ball, and Ghulam’s brief visit was ended, but that catch needed to be seen a couple more times. Towards the conclusion of the day, Saud Shakeel took advantage of sloppy bowling and hit two commanding boundaries before poor light forced an early end.
