South Africa’s spinners rocked Pakistan’s top-order batsmen as the visitors lost four wickets in quick succession before lunch in the first Test match of a two-match series against Pakistan at SuperSport Park, Centurion, on Thursday.
The Green Shirts were 4/88 at lunch after Dane Patterson and Corbin Bush took two wickets each as opener Saim Ayyub fell on 14 and Babar Azam on 4. While Shan Masood was bowled out for 17 and Saud Shakeel was bowled out for 14.
Earlier, South Africa won the toss and chose to bowl first.
The Proteas are bidding for a place in next year’s World Test Championship final, but in order to do so, they must win at least one Test in the series against Pakistan.
“It was a tough decision but we would like to try the new ball,” South Africa captain Temba Bavuma said after winning the toss.
The pitch at Centurion traditionally provides a lot of seam action for the bowlers.
The home side named their side on Tuesday with 30-year-old fast bowler Corbin Bush to make his debut in the all-rounders, joining Marko Janssen, Kagiso Rabada and Dane Patterson in the home attack as he gets a chance due to a long injury list among the fast bowlers in The country.
Pakistan also picked a team without a specialist spinner, with Mohammad Abbas, Aamer Jamal, Naseem Shah and Khurram Shehzad in the bowling attack.
Abbas is playing his first Test in three years while Naseem returns after being dropped for the last two Tests against England in October. Shehzad was injured in the three-Test series.
“The last two times we played at Centurion, we played seam attack and saw some success. The pitch does not favor spinners at all,” Bavuma said.
Pakistan captain Shan Masood added: “The conditions favor the strikers, but you get a lot of value for your shots, so it’s about choosing the right balls and getting a good first-innings score on the board.”
Babar Azam, who also dropped out in the last two Tests against England at home in October, returns which means Masood will open the batting alongside Saim Ayub.
The 22-year-old Ayub scored twice as Pakistan thrashed South Africa 3-0 in the One Day International series last week.
Pakistan XI: Shan Masood (captain), Saim Ayub, Babar Azam, Kamran Ghulam, Muhammad Rizwan (week), Saud Shakeel, Salman Agha, Aamir Jamal, Naseem Shah, Khurram Shehzad, Muhammad Abbas.
South Africa XI: Aiden Markram, Tony De Zorzi, Ryan Rickleton, Tristan Stubbs, Themba Bavuma (capt), David Bedingham, Kyle Vereen (wk), Marco Janssen, Kagiso Rabada, Dane Patterson, Corbin Bush.
Match schedule:
First Test — December 26 to December 30 at SuperSport Park, Centurion
Second Test — January 3 to January 7 at Newlands Cricket Ground, Cape Town
This is a developing story and will be updated with more details.