South Africa 316 for 4 (Rickelton 176*, Bavuma 106) vs. Pakistan
The pair played perfectly complementary roles, with Rickelton scoring heavily at the opposite end (102 of his 176 runs came there) and Bavuma plundering the right side. Together, they played some exquisite drives and, while Rickelton’s runs came in straight areas down the ground, Bavuma was excellent at moving and pulling.
Abbas bowled 19.3 consecutive overs at SuperSport Park last weekend to take a career-best 6 for 54 and took up the new ball at Newlands. His first delivery hit Markam on the front deck and Pakistan thought they had the first wicket. Umpire Nitin Menon was unfazed, so they checked, but replays showed he was cutting his top. Markram survived thanks to the referee’s decision.
Rickelton was the more fluid of the opening pair and scored seven boundaries to Markram’s three, in an opening stand valued at 61. Rickelton offered a chance in that period, when an edge over Khurram Shahzad fell short of second slip and South Africa moved on. . their highest first-wicket partnership since March 2023. Against the run of play, Markram finally offered a chance when he pushed Shahzad loosely towards substitute fielder Abdullah Shafique. After three ducks in the ODIs and no game time since, Shafique was under pressure and the ball was going in and out straight from his hands. Markram was at 17.
No real damage was done as, in the next over, Markram clipped a ball that simply drifted away and headed towards Mohammad Rizwan. Abbas’ return after a seven-over break found Mulder’s outside edge to give Pakistan a second wicket. And Pakistan stole another on the stroke of lunch when Stubbs dropped back to a ball bowled by part-timer Salman Agha and closed in on Rizwan.
Pakistan squandered the chance to maximize their lead after the break when they stuck with Aamer Jamal at one end and Agha at the other instead of bringing in one of their strike bowlers and allowed Bavuma to come in with ease. Bavuma got his first runs when he managed Jamal. to third place and unleashed a series of superb drives to continue his excellent form this summer.
Masood brought on Mir Hamza in five overs after the break and Shahzad after eight overs. By then, Rickelton was in his 60s. He hit two boundaries in Shahzad’s first second session and Pakistan’s attack disappeared. They allowed South Africa easy scoring opportunities with the field extended and a variety of lengths.
Rickelton entered the 90s with back-to-back boundaries off Shahzad and quietly worked his way to 99. He faced only one ball in the next two overs as Bavuma kept hitting, but when Agha bowled one with his pads, he batted it away to bring it in. up to a second hundred in three tests. Two overs later, Bavuma scored a fifty off 82 balls as South Africa went to tea at 184 for 3.
The afternoon session was all about South Africa as Rickelton and Bavuma filled their boots. Bavuma wrecked the first six innings when he clipped Agha over mid-wicket, and Pakistan may have been left wondering whether it was wise not to employ a specialist spinner, even as a bowler at that time. Rickelton scored South Africa’s second six, at mid-wicket, in an over where he took 14 runs from Jamal.
He reached 150 with a cover-driven four off Khurram, with Bavuma at 11 hundreds. He got there seven overs later, off a single from Jamal, and ran almost to the long boundary, waving his arms in celebration before waving his bat wildly towards the end of the middle overs. Bavuma’s emotions may have gotten the better of him as he outplayed Agha at Rizwan 17 minutes before the end of the game. Since taking over as captain, Bavuma has scored three of his four Test hundreds and has an average of 57.78.
Rickleton and Bedingham saw the day when Pakistan finished 10 overs shy of the required 90.
Firdose Moonda is ESPNcricinfo’s correspondent for South Africa and women’s cricket
