RAWALPINDI: Stubborn batting from Aiden Markram and Rassie van der Dussen put South Africa on course for a series-levelling victory on Sunday after Mohammad Rizwan’s rippling maiden century had provided the hosts a strong platform in the second and final Test here at the Pindi Cricket Stadium.
Riding on Rizwan’s undefeated 115, Pakistan set the tourists an improbable target of 370 on just over four sessions of play. And in spite of losing Dean Elgar cheaply for 17, South Africa closed day four in a comfort zone of 127-1, while requiring a further 243 with Markram (59 from 137 balls) and van der Dussen (48 off 94) closing in on a 100-plus partnership in successive Tests.
Markram and van der Dussen had been inseparable in the last session as combined to stitch together a stand worth 94 from 150 deliveries after Elgar had been dismissed by Shaheen Shah Afridi just before tea.
In Karachi last week, Markram and van der Dussen — by far the most assured of the batsmen on this tour — shared a stand of 127 before the rest imploded against spinners Nauman Ali and Yasir Shah to enable wrap up the first Test by seven wickets.
Unafraid to use their feet, both batsmen showed with total commitment to the challenge of batting in the subcontinent, it is possible to play long innings as Markram exhibited the skills in full repertoire and his range of shot-selection was exemplary and twice against slow left-armer Nauman he was brave enough to strike sixes, apart from hitting nine fours.
Van der Dussen, in the meantime, struck eight well-timed boundaries while Pakistan captain Babar Azam seemed puzzled at the sudden change in the pitch character as it turned benign. Just into his second Test, Babar will have to pull out his thinking cap on Monday, while hoping Pakistan’s main bowlers — Nauman and Yasir — strike as early as possible.
South Africa, meanwhile, are eying to achieve what would the highest fourth-innings chase at this venue — the best thus far was Sri Lanka making 220 in a two-wicket win against the Saeed Anwar-led Pakistan side in the early 2000 — on a pitch, now strangely enough, not showing any signs of being unplayable as predicted.
And if the South Africa need source of inspiration then they only require to dissect overnight how the depleted West Indies sensationally turned the tables on Bangladesh at Chittagong on Sunday in the highest successful run chase ever — 395, to be precise — in Asia.
Enoch Nkwe — the South Africa assistant coach — hoped Markram and van der Dussen would continue to carry in the same frame of mind.
“Obviously we are in a position where we think the Test could go anybody’s side. There is clarity in our mind what needed is to be done because the opportunity [of winning] provided by the sensible approach of Markram and Rassie [van der Dussen] this evening has given South Africa something to be proud about,” Nkwe told reporters.
“What is now required that our batsmen must stay in the situation and make the necessary adjustments. We have been addressing small areas after what happened in the first Test when we had lowered the [level of] intensity while trying to come to terms with the spinning surface.”
At start of play, this match was wide open as the hosts were front by just 200 with four second-innings wickets in hand. But as the game progressed, Pakistan pulled away with Rizwan leading the charge on ei ther side of the lunch interval as the vice-captain became the only third wicket-keeper — after A.B. de Villiers (164 at Dubai in October 2013) and current South Africa skipper Quinton de Kock (129 at Johannesburg in January 2019) — to reach three figures in Tests between these nations.
Resuming on 28 in the overnight team score of 129-6, Rizwan surpassed his previous best Test score of 95 — against Australia at Brisbane in November 2019 — when he pushed George Linde towards cover for a single while bringing up the coveted landmark in 185 balls after consuming 113 deliveries in reaching 50.
It might have been a completely different tale after the events of Saturday when Pakistan were losing those wickets like ninepins and despite the severity of the rebuilding process and the prime objective of safeguarding the tail, Hasan Ali chose to commit hara-kiri; a quicker delivery from Keshav Maharaj defeated an overambitious sweep. Aleem Dar got the leg-before-wicket spot on while Pakistan escaped losing the review as Hasan trudged back dejectedly on the umpire’s call.
At 143-7, Pakistan were obviously not out of the woods since their overall lead was an insignificant 214 with around 190 overs still available in the Test.
Pakistan batted with great determination to bolster their finall innings tally to 298 with 169 priceless runs.
But it was not entirely the Rizwan show as both Yasir and Nauman rendered priceless support in the highest two partnership of the innings. Yasir (23) helped the pugnacious Rizwan add 53 in 70 minutes before a thick edge was gratefully poached by de Kock as Linde not only celebrated his best Test figures of 5-64 in 26 overs — usurping the 4-133 on debut against India at Ranchi in October 2019 — but also recorded 200 scalps in all first-class cricket when Shaheen, the last man, gently edged the ball that clipped the off bail.
In between those dismissals, Nauman’s belated entry on the international stage encapsulated another monumental moment in the life of this unassuming 34-year-old cricketer. Just over a week after announcing himself at Karachi as the oldest Pakistan debutant to grab a five-for in a Test innings, the left-handed Nauman crunched a brace of sixes — both off Linde — and six boundaries in an enterprising 78-ball effort of 45 during Pakistan’s best-ever stand for the ninth wicket against South Africa. The Rizwan-Nauman stand of 97 in 90 minutes eclipsed the 80-run partnership, achieved by Azhar Mahmood and Shoaib Akhtar at Durban in 1997-98.
Kagiso Rabada, who hadn’t the luck siding with him throughout this tour, finished with tidy analysis of 2-34 in 14 overs after failing to take wickets in 21 overs the 25-year-old speedster from Johannesburg deliveries during the first innings. Maharaj, once again, had to bowl long spells both at Karachi and here — sending down 83 overs in this match and picking three wickets in each innings.
Rizwan, who altogether batted just seven minutes under five hours and adorned his 204-ball knock with 12 boundaries, remained cocky that Pakistan can secure a 2-0 series victory.
“We are not disheartened by lack of success in the last session. No doubt both Markram and van der Dussen batted well and the put also had got a bit better than we thought. Yesterday [Saturday] it was certainly unplayable but Alhamdulillah, we have managed to get enough runs on the board to put them [South Africa] under pressure,” Rizwan quipped. “We just need one wicket early up to get back on top. As regards my century, what matters most is that if we win Test [and the series], then only I’ll consider being my best innings of my life.”
Scoreboard
PAKISTAN (1st Innings) 272 (Faheem Ashraf 78 not out, Babar Azam 77, Fawad Alam 45; A. Nortje 5-56, K.A. Maharaj 3-90).
SOUTH AFRICA (1st Innings) 201 (T. Bavuma 44 not out; Hasan 5-54)
PAKISTAN (2nd Innings, overnight 129-6):
Imran Butt lbw b Rabada 0
Abid Ali c de Kock b Maharaj 13
Azhar Ali lbw b Linde 33
Babar Azam lbw b Maharaj 8
Fawad Alam c Markram b Linde 13
Mohammad Rizwan not out 115
Faheem Ashraf c Nortje b Linde 29
Hasan Ali lbw b Maharaj 5
Yasir Shah c de Kock b Linde 23
Nauman Ali c Elgar b Rabada 45
Shaheen Shah Afridi b Linde 4
EXTRAS (B-9, NB-2) 11
TOTAL (all out, 102 overs) 298
FALL OF WKTS: 1-0 (Imran), 2-28 (Abid), 3-45 (Babar), 4-63 (Azhar), 5-76 (Fawad), 6-128 (Faheem), 7-143 (Hasan), 8-196 (Yasir), 9-293 (Nauman), 10-298 (Shaheen).
BOWLING (to-date): Rabada 14-3-34-2; Nortje 17-7-57-0; Maharaj 38-4-118-3; Mulder 7-1-16-0 (2nb); Linde 26-9-64-5.
SOUTH AFRICA (2nd Innings):
A.K. Markram not out 59
D. Elgar c Rizwan b Shaheen 17
H.E. van der Dussen not out 48
EXTRAS (NB-3) 3
TOTAL (for one wkt, 41 overs) 127
FALL OF WKT: 1-33 (Elgar).
BOWLING (to-date): Shaheen Shah Afridi 10-4-22-1 (2nb); Hasan Ali 5-0-36-0 (1nb); Nauman Ali 12-4-35-0; Yasir Shah 11-3-21-0; Faheem Ashraf 3-1-13-0.
Published in Dawn, February 8th, 2021