SOUTH AFRICA VS PAKISTAN , 1ST TEST , CENTURION : South Africa’s Jaw-Dropping WTC Final Qualification After Thrilling Win Against Pakistan In 1St Test .
South Africa has registered a nail biting two-wicket win against Pakistan in the first Test of the two-match series to book their entry for the World Test Championship final. Chasing a difficult target of 148 runs at SuperSport Park Centurion, South Africa fell at one stage reduced to 99 for 8. Rabada (31 not out) and Marco Jansen (16 not out) added an unbroken 51-run partnership to see the hosts home and also guide them to their first final in the two-edition history of the WTC. South Africa’s Jaw-Dropping WTC Final Qualification After Thrilling Win Against Pakistan In 1St Test .
TOSS-
South Africa won the toss and decided to bowl.
PLAYING SQUAD-
South Africa Squad:
Tony de Zorzi, Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs, Temba Bavuma (c), David Bedingham, Kyle Verreynne (wk), Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Kagiso Rabada, Dane Paterson
Pakistan Squad:
Shan Masood ©, Saim Ayub, Babar Azam, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saud Shakeel, Salman Agha, Aamer Jamal, Naseem Shah, Khurram Shazad, Mohammad Abbas
DAY 1-
Pakistan had batted without loss for the first hour of the day until Bosch’s introduction transformed the game in an instant. Shan Masood played away from his body to drive one to Marco Jansen at gully off Bosch’s first Test delivery before Paterson at least added Saim Ayub.
Babar Azam took four while Saud Shakeel played one peculiar six-ball 14 off a bare-knuckle swat as Pakistan stumbled to 56 for 4 before Lunch.
Kamran Ghulam and Mohammad Rizwan revived the innings during an 81-run partnership but the former gave away his wicket soon after reaching the milestone, as Paterson made a breakthrough in the opening over of a new spell. Ghulam had tried a wild swipe to deep backward-square leg.
Salman Agha also off to a flier with a boundary before Rizwan went with clinching one to slips off his second and Paterson got four. Jamal and Salman looked to resurrect the innings with a and quick 47-run partnership before a mini-collapse saw Jamal chopping one back on to his stumps and Salman and Naseem both departing in the next eight balls.
The hosts wrapped up the final wicket of Khurram Shahzad three balls into the final session to end a bizarre Pakistan innings, who although losing regular clumps of wickets remained aggressive.
Markram then started the South Africa innings with a neat straight bat through square but Shahzad soon had his fellow opener Tony de Zorzi as his stumps were demolished. Shahzad got one to seam inwards with a peach of a delivery to bowl de Zorzi for two. Ryan Rickelton reviewed after he shouldered arms to a ball that came in, but, luckily for him, was missing the off-stump.
Markram salvolved a pair of home deliveries for four off Mohammad Abbas as he moved into double figures but Shahzad struck his partner, getting him to edge behind to the ‘keeper. Markram and new man Tristan Stubbs steadied the ship with a 44-run second-wicket partnership and it was the former doing most of the scoring. Just played the ball late with soft hands and guided the testing deliveries to the fence and pounced on the width on offer.
Stubbs, who was out for just nine, was unfortunately an LBW victim when the ball popped in low to clip the top half of his pad. Skipper Temba Bavuma and Markram then batted out the remaining overs to take South Africa to Stumps without losing another wicket.
DAY -2
Pakistan were wayward with the ball in the first hour, also, furnishing looseners that Markram and Temba Bavuma gleefully cashed in on. There then followed a fruitless passage of play in which the hosts had regularly found their way to the rope across those next four overs as they capitalized on the none-shallow deliveries from Abbas and Naseem.
The first change bowler Aamer Jamal, likewise, was largely ineffective from the start of his spell for lack of pace to force the issue against the South Africans until he forced Bavuma to nick off to the wicket keeper for 31. Naseem and Shahzad bowled very straight lines to Bedingham, who continued to find the fence with relative ease. After a few sighters, David Bedingham crunched Abbas to the rope for a couple of boundaries.
If Naseem and Shahzad bowled very straight lines to him, then Bedingham continued to find the fence with relative ease. But against the run of play, and on the stroke of Lunch, Bedingham squandered his innings with a loose shot that nicked to first slip.
Bosch mentioned having his 50 on debut, he was the first South African to score a double of a four-wicket haul and a 50-plus score on debut for South Africa.
The visitors had blitzed their way to 48 after 10 overs when South Africa’s inspiration Rabada got Ayub to attempt a booming drive after pitching one up only for the batters off-stump to be sent cartwheeling. Paterson cranks up the heat Dane Paterson was immediately onto his lines, testing Babar Azam’s technique, and he squared the out-of-form batter up once and twice but he was lucky to see edges falling short of the slip cordon.
His partner and skipper Masood, however, was not as lucky when he poked a ball outside off from Marco Jansen, the ball going to Tristan Stubbs at third slip, as Pakistan lost both their openers with still 20 runs left to get. Kamran Ghulam glanced one to gully, and things got worse for the tourists. Saud Shakeel hit with intent as he slashed two boundaries to reduce the gap to two runs before bad light brought a premature end to the day.
DAY 3-
Earlier, after the entirety of the first session was junked due to rain, Shakeel and Azam looked unfettered in the opening hour, actively presenting the full face of the bat to the bowler to locate boundaries. Pakistan quickly raised the 50-run lead and shortly after Azam completed his half-century. But an over later he fell as he slashed an innocuous delivery from Jansen straight to deep point.
South Africa made fairly short work of Pakistan’s resistance after the Tea break; in eight overs, to be precise. But Shakeel hit some quick runs for the visitors, hitting three fours and a six while farming the strike from Shahzad. But he mis-timed a full toss from Jansen that found everything in front of the stumps. Corbin Bosch dismissed Abbas’ last wicket as the debutant finished with five wickets in the match, leaving the hosts a target of 148 to chase.
Pakistan had collapsed beforehand from 153 for 3 to 237 all-out as Marco Jansen claimed six wickets for 52 runs. Saud Shakeel made 84 and Babar Azam provided 50 himself, with his first half-century since 2023.
Even in the nine-over blast the home side was put through, Aiden Markram managed a border off a half-hearted shot in the first over, which he was lucky in as it went over the slips. Shahzad started to get in his groove during his second over, with some beauties that cut Tony de Zorzi in half. From the other end, Abbas then got one to keep low and thudded into the batter’s pads who was adjudged to be in front of the stumps. Abbas then had Ryan Rickelton square up for a couple of deliveries before his return to the pavilion was interrupted with Shahzad picking him up for a duck.
You were playing a backfoot punch for four when new batter Tristan Stubbs copped an absolute pearl from Abbas that thudded into his pads and sent him back for one. That was the first successful DRS, overshadowing two handed not-out calls going the home team’s way in the previous two dismissals, though Pakistan’s use of the technology was excellent in the second innings, winning both reviews. Markram slammed two further boundaries before Stumps was drawn owing to poor light.
DAY 4-
Aiden Markram and Temba Bavuma were guarded in the chase at first, with 121 still needed for the hosts. They defended the balls on merit and did not fish outside their off-stump. They coaxed the drives through the covers and Bavuma also helped himself to a six when Abbas was unable to stay inside the boundary line after taking a catch off Naseem Shah.
Bavuma was caught behind after missing a heave when the ball struck the pocket on his trousers. Very strangely, the batter left without reviewing which caused a huge collapse from then onwards for the hosts from which they fell after 96 for 4 to 99 for 8. Bavuma was out after surviving two appeals in the first hour where the ball had clipped his trouser and was caught by Mohammad Rizwan.
Naseem delivered in the next over, getting Kyle Verreyne to chop on to his stumps before Abbas dismissed Bedingham and Corbin Bosch off successive balls. Abbas ran through for the entire Day 4, once again, a terrific spell.
Keegan Petersen, South Africa’s lone bright spot on the second day, had scored a useful 40 runs, but Rabada and the resilient Kyle Verreynne put on insane resistance after the break, needing just 5.3 overs in the end before Rabada nicked a delivery off Abbas which, thankfully for the batting side, did not carry to the wicketkeeper Rizwan. Since Abbas was constantly beating the bat, the two batsmen attacked the bowlers from the other end.
Rabada was crushing the ball and hoicked Naseem over cover for a four before Jansen reduced the equation to 15 with a square cut off Abbas. And, all at once, the crowd was louder than ever. Pakistan then made a bizarre decision as they brought in Aamer Jamal for his first over of the innings which ended up being expensive for the visitors. Rabada knocked him for two fours in an 11-run over before Jansen cut him square to the fence to finish the game.
Brief Scores:
Pakistan 211 & 237 (Saud Shakeel 66\*, Babar Azam 50; Marco Jansen 5-42, Kagiso Rabada 2-68) lost to South Africa 301 & 150/8 (Temba Bavuma 40, Aiden Markram 37; Mohammad Abbas 6-54, Naseem Shah 1-34) by two wickets .