The Pakistan cricket team has taken a one-nil lead in the two-match Test series against South Africa, with a resounding seven-wicket victory in the first Test in Karachi. The hosts dismissed the Proteas for 245 in their second innings and cruised to the 88-run victory target, well inside four days.
The cricket gods couldn’t have scripted it better for Pakistan, playing in their first Test at home in 14 years. The Proteas resumed their second innings on 187 for 4, with a slender lead of 29 runs.
And losing Keshav Maharaj for two with the first delivery of the day, pretty much set the tone for the visitors on day four in Karachi.
Captain Quinton de Kock departed two overs later, also for two, as spinners Yasir Shah and Nauman Ali bamboozled the Proteas batsmen.
Apart from Themba Bavuma who scored a fighting 40, the tail-enders were rolled out for the addition of just 15 runs with the pair taking nine scalps between them.
Ali became the 12th Pakistani bowler to take a five-wicket haul on debut, finishing with figures of five for 35 as South Africa was bundled out for 245, leaving the hosts a victory target of just 88 runs.
Pakistan’s openers Imran Butt and Abid Ali safely navigated the seven overs to lunch going into the interval on 22 without loss, needing a further 66 runs for victory.
Anrich Nortje dismissed the openers, taking two wickets in the first over after the break, while Maharaj trapped Pakistan’s captain Barbar Azam leg before for 30.
But those were just consolation scalps because Pakistan coasted to a comprehensive seven-wicket victory and a 1-nil series lead — certainly a fitting way to return to hosting international cricket.
“I think it was our first innings batting performance we were very soft in our dismissals so that was a big cause for our loss in this game. I think we learned a lot as a batting unit on this surface, we will look to take that forward and obviously, our bowlers bowled really well with great aggression and accuracy. It’s just unfortunate that the Pakistan team batted really well against us,” says De Kock.
The second match in the series will be played in Rawalpindi and starts next Thursday.
