On the first day, South Africa and Pakistan played two separate halves at Centurion’s SuperSport Park. Following ferocious initial bursts from Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen, Pakistan was able to play out the first hour as both openers emerged uninjured from a difficult stretch of play. However, the visitors lost four wickets for 20 runs in the following 4.3 overs as rookie Corbin Bosch hit with his maiden ball in Test cricket, just after the drinks break.
Because of the cloudy weather, Temba Bavuma chose to bowl, and in the opening over, his top spinner Rabada almost got Shan Masood to hack back on to his stumps.
The player of the ODI series, Saim Ayub, escaped an early DRS review off Jansen as the ball was clipping leg-stump and remained with the umpire’s verdict of not-out. Rabada then beat the batter’s outside edge in his next over, coming agonizingly close to hitting the edge.
After defending himself from Jansen’s snort, Masood pulled him for four to square leg to the boundary. Rabada watched one ball that Ayub had stolen fall down in the slips as Tristan Stubbs was unable to get down in time, leaving the hosts, who had decided to bowl in an attempt to gain early ground, more dissatisfied. Rabada unable to produce any results despite beating the batsman three times in a single over. When they were 36 for 0 at drinks, the visitors soon discovered a few streaky borders.
Masood drove weakly away from his body, edging one to Jansen at gully, from his debut ball in Test cricket, and Bosch’s arrival instantly altered the outcome of the match. With a peach-like delivery, Dane Paterson followed up from the other end, straightening enough to pick out a slight edge of Ayub. After the drinks break, both openers were out within two overs.
Babar Azam used a whip off the pads to send Bosch to the boundary, sandwiching this. But it was Azam’s only contribution, as the batsman guided it straight to second slip with a careless push at one well outside off stump.
Read More: Vijay Hazare Trophy: Gaikwad, Kishan smash rapid tons
