South Africa 301 (Markram 89, Bosch 81*, Shahzad 3-75, Naseem 3-92) and 150 for 8 (Bavuma 40, Abbas 6-54) beat Pakistan 211 (Ghulam 54, P...
South Africa 301 (Markram 89, Bosch 81*, Shahzad 3-75, Naseem 3-92) and 150 for 8 (Bavuma 40, Abbas 6-54) beat Pakistan 211 (Ghulam 54, Paterson 5-61, Bosch 4-63) and 237 (Shakeel 84, Babar 50, Jansen 6-52) by two wickets
South Africa have equipped for the World Test Title (WTC) last in the wake of beating Pakistan by two wickets in an extreme emotion experience at SuperSport Park. Set a humble however testing objective of 148 to win, they were 99 for 8 not long before lunch and it was passed on to Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen to score the excess 51 runs in a strained 10th wicket stand against a Pakistan assault with their tails up.
Mohammad Abbas, on a comeback from a three-year absence from the Test side, bowled a marathon 19.3 overs spell from the Hennops River End and took a career best 6 for 54 but could not end Pakistan's lean run in South Africa. This is the eighth successive Test they have lost in the country, dating back to 2007.
Pakistan gave themselves every chance by running through South Africa's middle order on a morning of mayhem, where South Africa lost 5 for 37, including four wickets for three runs in 12 balls, which put the onus on the bowlers to finish the job.
Jansen and Rabada are both capable with the bat but with the pressure turned up fully, every ball was an event, from the second one Rabada faced, that he hit up and over point for four, to the final one, steered delicately by Jansen through point to secure the winning runs.
Those strokes are also screenshots of the way the pair approached the chase: Rabada backed himself to play his strokes while Jansen was more conservative and happy to wait for scoring opportunities.
Between them, they offered only once chance, when Rabada, on 12, fished outside off and edged but the chance fell short of Mohammad Rizwan. That came post-lunch, the break South Africa went into needing 32 to win.
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