Corbin Bosch continued his dream Test debut as an unbeaten 81 gave South Africa a vital 90-run lead. Pakistan lost three wickets after a good start to their second innings and are still two runs behind.
Starting the day on 82/3, South Africa started the second morning really well. Aiden Markram continued from where he left off on the first day. He brought up his 13th Test half-century in the third over of the day. Skipper Temba Bavuma looked in decent touch as well as he got a few boundaries and stitched a 70-run stand with Markram.
Just when things were drifting away, Aamer Jamal produced the breakthrough for Pakistan. He got Bavuma edging to Mohammad Rizwan behind the stumps. David Bedingham walked in and scored fluently. He struck a flurry of boundaries and raced to 30 and added 52 runs for the 5th wicket with Markram. But he fell against the run of play as Naseem Shah had Bedingham poking at a delivery outside off-stump which Bedingham nicked to first slip.
That wicket triggered a collapse after lunch. Naseem got two wickets soon after the break as Kyle Verreynne and Marco Jansen couldn’t get going. Debutant Corbin Bosch walked out and struck four boundaries before Markram who batted beautifully fell on 89. The South African opener was strangled down leg-side as Khurram Shahzad got his third wicket of the innings.
At 213/8, South Africa were in trouble and had a lead of just 2. Pakistan had a sniff and felt they could’ve wrapped up the innings in no time. But Bosch had other ideas. He went out on the attack and struck boundaries at regular intervals. He put on 41 runs alongside Kagiso Rabada who made 13. Jamal broke the threatening stand as Rabada top-edged a big heave.
Bosch notched up his maiden Test fifty in the following over before continuing the onslaught. Dane Paterson provided some nice support at the other end as well. The 10th wicket stand was worth 47 as South Africa went past the 300-run mark. Bosch was batting on 81 when Paterson holed out to mid-off. Saim Ayub was the one who picked up the final wicket as South Africa finished on 301.
Pakistan get off to a solid start before losing 3 wickets
With a lead of 90, South Africa didn’t start well with the new ball in the second innings. Their pacers were wayward which allowed the Pakistan openers to settle early and get a few boundaries. Saim Ayub and Shan Masood combined to hit eight boundaries in the first six overs as Pakistan raced to 39/0.
Surprisingly, Bosch opened the bowling alongside Rabada and both bowlers didn’t really hit their straps. They provided width outside the off-stump or sprayed it down leg. Dane Paterson came in as first change and brought some sort of control before Rabada finally found the spot and knocked over Ayub with a beauty. The brisk 49-run opening stand was broken as Ayub departed for 28.
Jansen came into the attack only in the 15th over and he created an impact straightaway. He troubled Masood with extra bounce in his first over before getting the Pakistan skipper to edge to third slip in his following over. First innings half-centurion Kamran Ghulam didn’t last long either as he nicked off to gully which gave Jansen his second wicket.
Pakistan lost three wickets in the space of 25 runs as South Africa bounced back well after a disappointing start with the new ball. Babar Azam had a few nervy moments as well. He played a missed a few while a couple of edges didn’t go to hand.
The visitors are in a spot of bother. They are still trailing by two runs but they are not out of it just yet. If the middle-order can fight and get the lead past 150, things could get very interesting. Meanwhile, South Africa have been calling the shots right from the first session of the game. They’ll be hoping their pacers continue more of the same and keep up the good work.
BRIEF SCORES: Pakistan 211 (Kamran Ghulam 54, Aamer Jamal 28, Dane Paterson 5/61, Corbin Bosch 4/63) & 88/3 (Saim Ayub 28, Shan Masood 28, Marco Jansen 2/17, Kagiso Rabada 1/31) trail South Africa 301 (Aiden Markram 89, Corbin Bosch 81*, Khurram Shahzad 3/75, Naseem Shah 3/92) by 2 runs.
