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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With Pakistan taking three wickets in nine overs to leave South Africa struggling at 27 for 3, still 121 runs short of the 147-run goal that guarantees a victory and a spot in the 2023–25 World Test Championship [WTC] final, the opening Test match at Centurion is tantalizingly poised. South Africa needed a pretty easy 148 to win after bowling Pakistan out for 237, but Mohammad Abbas and Khurram Shahzad’s unwavering run of excellent medium-fast bowling proved well worth it.
Abbas and Shahzad attacked the pads, while the South African batsmen, with the exception of Aiden Markram, were a little hesitant in their approach to the final few overs of the day. The first breakthrough came when Abbas brought one to jag back in hard into Tony de Zorzi. Pakistan successfully overturned two lbw rulings by studying the previous innings’ chalk and cheese. Though the batsman had gone well across, Shahzad got comparable seam action from around the wicket to smash Ryan Rickleton on the front pad with enough ferocity to hit him in line.
Pakistan effectively reversed that one, and Abbas found the proper line and sufficient sideways movement, which has led to periods of great success. Once more, Pakistan stood up as a team for the umpire to dismiss them after Tristan Stubbs took a stride out of his crease but was beaten on the outside edge. However, Shan Masood was once again proven correct when he indicated that it was time to walk upstairs. Marco Jansen’s six-wicket haul earlier in the day had given South Africa more control over the match.
After the morning session was ruined by a weather delay, Pakistan wasted a great start when he took five wickets in the afternoon. After Saud Shakeel’s obstinate resistance, the hosts returned to polish off the Pakistan tail in the last session, and he picked up another. After putting up 79 for the fourth wicket with Shakeel, Babar Azam reached his first half-century in Test cricket in almost two years, but he promptly holed out to deep point. As Pakistan fell apart around Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan was crushed down leg.
The game started an hour after lunch ended due to persistent rain, and Pakistan started by exploiting a bowling performance that was far from its best. In the third over, Kagiso Rabada was dismissed for four runs each by Shakeel and Babar, and the runs continued to pour in over the following thirty minutes. Twenty-three runs came from the following three, and while Babar was still losing occasionally, he was also rediscovering the timing that used to be so frequently a sign of a huge score.
Babar helped himself to two fours when Corbin Bosch missed his line again, and a clip into the covers brought up his long-awaited half-century, his first in 20 innings. Bosch hardly had to move to send a distraught Babar on his way, but he threw it away disappointingly after failing to get on top of a short and wide one from Jansen. Rizwan and Salman Agha fell easily as Jansen found the wickets that had escaped him in the first innings. Pakistan appeared to be six down after a short stand between Shakeel and Aamer Jamal.
However, Jamal then hit a poor Dane Paterson bouncer straight to deep midwicket, and Naseem Shah generously nicked Rabada into the slips. After tea, Shakeel tried to farm the strike, and he would have some success since errant bowling produced the occasional boundary and easy late-over singles. Pakistan’s tendency to give wickets to deliveries that didn’t deserve them was once again demonstrated when a knee-high full toss smacked into Shakeel’s front pad, ultimately ending Pakistan’s batting attempt. The highlight was a majestic pick-up for six over midwicket. Pakistan’s bowlers have made sure that South Africa doesn’t get any rest overnight, even if it seemed like the last nail in the coffin.
