Aiden Markram and Rassie van der Dussen’s unbroken 94-run 2nd wicket stand took South Africa to 127/1 at the end of day four of the second test against Pakistan in Rawalpindi.
Chasing a mammoth 370 to win, the Proteas now need 243 in tomorrow’s final day of play to square the two-match Test Series. If the Proteas manage to pull off the run chase, it will be the highest successful chase in Pakistan.
Mohammad Rizwan’s maiden Test century led Pakistan’s efforts on the fourth morning in Rawalpindi, where they pushed the lead to 369.
Rizwan also shared an eighth-wicket stand of 53 with Yasir Shah to frustrate the South African attack, who found conditions less helpful than they have been throughout the match.
Unlike the first three days, where the ball kept low and reverse swing played a role, scoring appeared easier on the fourth morning but Pakistan still have reason to believe they already have enough runs to seal the series.
South Africa will need to pull off the highest successful chase by a visiting team in Pakistan, beating Sri Lanka’s 220 at the same venue 21 years ago, and would need to successfully chase a score over 200 for the first time in almost a decade.
The last time South Africa managed that was in 2011, against Australia in Cape Town.
Earlier, Keshav Maharaj took the first wicket of the morning in the sixth over, George Linde then joined in on the party with the wicket of Yasir Shah.
Thereafter the South African bowlers toiled as Mohammad Rizwan went from his 7th Test 50 to a hundred runs, heaping frustration on the visitors as the runs to chase for victory grew from 250 to more than 350.
Rabada and Linde eventually picked up the remaining wickets, Linde joining an illustrious club at the Rawalpindi pavilion with his maiden five-wicket haul to end the Pakistan innings.
With a full day and a session left in the game, the question was whether the South African change room would come out with the intention to win the match or play it out for a draw.
Whatever the instruction, the Proteas were going to play their shots.
Dean Elgar and Aiden Markram would literally had to bat themselves into the history books, the average score for a South African opening battling pair on the subcontinent being a measly 11 runs.
And true to form, what looked like a promising start between the two was not to last, Dean Elgar gone for just 17 runs.
Markram though was seeing the ball good and Rassie Van der Dussen had a point to prove – together the rebuilding phase began.
The two put on nothing less than a magnanimous fightback for South Africa.
Pure grit, application and patience being the order of the day, with Aiden Markram leading the way with an unbeaten 59 and Rassie van der Dussen following suit on 48.
Their unbroken 94-run stand giving the visitors belief that they can make a fight for the target.
The two wake up on Monday with 243 runs needed to draw the test series and with nine wickets in hand, South Africa will believe they are in good shape to do just that.
Pakistan though will also believe that one wicket can open the floodgates, the South African middle-order has not quite been performing this series which means there’s still plenty to play for.
