Centurion:
Kagiso Rabada turned into a batting hero as he and Marko Janssen led South Africa to a thrilling two-run win over Pakistan on day four of the first Test at SuperSport Park on Sunday.
South Africa needed 148 to win, but fell to 99 for eight against the superb bowling of Mohammad Abbas.
6 points by Mohammad Abbas turned the match on its head in Pakistan’s favour, but the host was quick to equalize and had the last laugh.
The Proteas lost eight wickets for just 116 runs at lunch on day four while chasing a target of 148 set by Pakistan in the first Test.
The match became interesting when the Proteas still needed 32 runs and Pakistan were looking for the final two crucial wickets after lunch.
The fourth day began on 27/3, with South Africa needing another 121 runs to win, while Pakistan needed seven wickets.
Adam Markram, who started the day on 22, was dismissed for 37 by Mohammad Abbas. Captain Temba Bavuma contributed 40 runs before falling to Abbas, who also claimed the wicket of David Bedingham for 14.
Naseem Shah brought back Kyle Vereen, while Corbin Bush became Abbas’s fourth victim of the day.
Earlier, Pakistan scored 211 runs in the first innings, while South Africa responded with 301 runs. In the second innings, Pakistan set a target of 148 runs by scoring 237 runs.
Earlier, Saeb Ayub, Shan Masood and Babar Azam made 27, 28 and 50 runs respectively. Kamran Ghulam and Mohammad Rizwan returned to the pavilion for 4 and 3 runs respectively.
For the Proteas, all-rounder Marko Janssen grabbed six wickets and put his side in the driving seat.
Ken Borland, the sports journalist, rightly said: “Pakistan have lost another batsman to an ill-advised shot!” Aamir Jamal looked good when he was 18, but now he can’t resist catching a short ball from Dane Patterson, and there’s no attempt to keep the ball down. “
The start of day three was also marred by rain, delaying the match at Centurion on Saturday, when the visitors were two down with seven second innings wickets in hand.
Lunch was called as rain continued to fall in the opening session.
Pakistan had taken 88-3 at stumps on Friday, fighting back after trailing South Africa by 90 runs.
Pakistan were put into bat on the opening day and scored 211 runs after which their hosts responded with 301 runs.
Marco Janssen took 2-17, with Babar Azam not out in the 16th over and Saud Shakeel in the eighth over.
Pakistan spinners Saim Ayub and skipper Shan Masood struck hard in Pakistan’s opener to halve the home side’s huge advantage in a hard-fought battle but three wickets in the final hour put the lead back South Africa’s way.
Kagiso Rabada bowled 22-year-old Ayub for 28, followed by Janssen dismissing Masood for 28 and Kamran Ghulam for four runs.
Earlier, Corbin Bush continued his dream debut with a reckless unbeaten 81 to help South Africa reach 301 in reply to Pakistan’s first innings total of 211.
Bosh came on at number nine to contribute to a potential match-winner and add to his opening day heroics when he took 4-63 and became the 25th cricketer to take a wicket with his Test debut.
Before his arrival, Pakistan had taken five wickets, including opener Aiden Markram’s 89, and were firmly in contention after South Africa’s restart on 82-3.
Markram played a patient inning as he headed for a Test century, but then he inexplicably chased down a short-pitched delivery from Khurram Shehzad and sent the ball to wicket-keeper Mohammad Rizwan, leaving his side only with a two-run lead and two wickets in hand.
Pakistan were looking to restrict their hosts to a small lead, but Bosh and Kagiso Rabada had other ideas, scoring 41 runs for the ninth wicket to the delight of the home crowd before a quick delivery led to Rabada scoring 13 runs.
Bosh looked stuck at No. 46 when No. 11 batsman Dane Patterson joined him at the crease, but he hit a ball in the next over to the boundary to bring up his fifty and continued to push forward with a major batting class, including 15 boundaries, which belied his low position in the order. .
The duo went on to score another 47 runs for the final wicket as Bosh made his highest score in first-class cricket before Patterson grew impatient and skated off part-time spinner Saim Ayub for Khurram to take a difficult catch and end the innings.
The Test is the first of two, with the second starting at Newlands in Cape Town on January 3.