South Africa 82 for 3 (Markram 47*, Shahzad 2-28) Pakistan 211 (Gulam 54, Paterson 5-61, Bosch 4-63) by 129 runs
The story of the opening session changed the moment Temba Bavuma passed the ball to debutant Bosch. He started with a loosener far outside the stump. Masood, who had been forced to contend with an infallible fourth stump for the entire first hour, had his eyes lighting up as he clipped it, with a thick outside edge taking Marco Jansen at third slip to give him a first-rate wicket. ball. .
Suddenly, the good balls that were missing edges began to be found. Paterson took one off Ayub, who was unusually defensive, painstakingly collecting 14 off 35 balls. He kissed the outside edge and both openers returned to the pavilion. Paterson was not finished, for Babar Azam, returning to the side, also received a push on the stump, the hesitation of his blow revealing his lack of confidence; again it was meat and drink for slips.
With the Pakistani defenses out of control, Saud Shakeel went to the other end, looking to receive each ball, but it only took six deliveries before that strategy ran out of steam. He hooked the goalkeeper, and South Africa successfully checked to send him on his way.
It will be even more frustrating for Pakistan after a superb first hour of South African bowling went unrewarded. With Kagiso Rabada and Jansen playing, it was obvious why Bavuma had opted to include Pakistan, but somehow, they had found a way to dismiss the two main bowlers.
An 81-run stand between Ghulam, who scored an entertaining half-century, and Mohammad Rizwan seemed to have pulled Pakistan out of the hole it found itself in during the morning session. Rizwan and Ghulam had been strengthening the partnership across lunch and continued in a similar vein. But with the clouds moving menacingly overhead, the unfortunate Rabada was called in for another excellent but fruitless spell. It produced the most engaging cricket of the day, with both KGs locking horns on more than one occasion; Rabada became increasingly frustrated with Kamran Ghulam’s stubborn resistance and came close enough to tell him so, and Ghulam responded in unfamiliar terms to return to the bowling crease.
With the crowd engaged, Ghulam overcame one of the slips Jansen bombed and brought up his half-century, but South Africa would not be denied. Ghulam hit Paterson, only to edge him to fine leg, where none other than Rabada stood up to make the catch that sent the entire SuperSport Park into a frenzy. A wicket brought more for South Africa before lunch, and he proved it again. Rizwan failed at the next Bosch before Salman Ali Agha and Aamer Jamal began another rebuild. With ten minutes left until tea, the duo were closing in on another 50-strong association, but one more South African explosion would be the decisive blow.
South Africa had had a couple of chances at outside edge slips, so Bosch found Jamal’s inside edge as he attacked, before a surprise bouncer from Paterson saw Agha’s back.
Once Pakistan concluded, there was enough time to rewrite the history of the day, and Khurram Shahzad threatened to do just that when he cut Tony de Zorzi in half with perhaps the ball of the day. Constantly threatening both sides of the bat, he found the outside edge of Ryan Rickleton to reduce South Africa to 24 for 2 and regain momentum heading into the second day.
Danyal Rasool is Pakistan correspondent for ESPNcricinfo. @danny61000
