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Pakistan 211 and 88 for 3 (Babar 16*, Jansen 2-17) South Africa 301 (Markram 89, Bosch 81*, Shahzad 3-75, Naseem 3-92) by two runs
Both sets of batsmen will look back with some anger at the way they were dismissed. South Africa’s middle-order has doubts about ordinary shot selection, while Pakistan, in addition to their first innings collapse, now have to deal with signs of variable bounce as they look to build a target they can defend. Among those broader narratives was Bosch’s delight when he finished unbeaten on 81 and received the new ball in the second innings in a match in which he had a Midas touch.
South Africa only led by two at the time and Pakistan had a chance to keep things fairly close, but Bosch blew them away for the second day in a row. He was aggressive both front and back and had a disciplined partner in Rabada, who performed one of the most striking coverages of the game.
When Aamer Jamal was brought in half an hour before tea, Rabada’s patience ran out. He crossed the line and sent the ball through the air towards the non-striker. Babar Azam took a good catch at short medium, looking at the sun to end what was becoming a frustrating partnership for Pakistan.
Bosch would achieve its milestone and reached fifty with impressive coverage. His is the second-fastest fifty by a South African on debut. Paterson then swung and scored four off Jamal and six when he hit Abbas from distance. Desperate to end the lower-order resistance, Naseem returned after a short break and bowled four more overs but could not make the breakthrough. Instead, it was Ayub’s part-time spin, the only spinner used in the match so far, that worked. Paterson tried to throw it off the ground, but it skied to the middle, where Shahzad ran in circles before catching it.
South Africa started badly with the ball in the second innings. Rabada and Bosch shared the new ball, but both were too short and too open in their first periods. Ayub and Shan Masood played aggressively and raced to 41 in the first seven overs before Temba Bavuma brought in Paterson from the Bosch side.
His first two overs cost five runs and generated a semblance of pressure that was all Rabada needed to return to his best. In his sixth over, he produced an absolute jaffa on a length and cut. Ayub could not get behind the line of the ball as it curved to hit the top of stump. Rabada ended a spell of seven overs with figures of 1 for 31.
Jansen replaced him and immediately looked like a threat with the rebound he generated. Masood negotiated his first over, but when Jansen found even more momentum in the second, he hung up his bat and approached Tristan Stubbs at third slip. In Jansen’s next over, Kamran Ghulam, who scored 54 in the first innings, edged Ryan Rickelton into the gully. That catch needed to be reviewed a few more times, but Rickelton seemed to have his fingers under the ball and Ghulam’s short stay was over.
Saud Shakeel benefited from loose bowling towards the end of the day and hit two authoritative boundaries before poor light brought about an early end to the game.
