LAHORE TEST
Imam-ul-Haq fell seven short of his hundred © Getty
Pakistan reached a position of stability at stumps on a hard-fought Day 1 in the first Test against South Africa at Lahore. Two big partnerships, first between Imam-ul-Haq and Shan Masood, and then between Salman Agha and Mohammed Rizwan, highlighted Pakistan’s efforts.
After winning the toss and opting to bat first, Pakistan suffered an early jolt with Kagiso Rabada trapping Abdullah Shafique LBW after a successful referral. Their captain Masood though started positively by striking two boundaries to get started in the first over – one through cover and another through square leg. On a dry surface, South Africa turned to spin very early with Prenelan Subrayen being introduced in the sixth over. By the 11th, South Africa were attacking with spin at both ends. However, with the ball still new and the pitch still fresh, Pakistan piled on the runs as batting looked easy despite the odd ball misbehaving.
While the visitors were starved for wickets, they didn’t completely lose control. Imam brought his fifty up in the 23rd over and raised a 100-run-stand with his skipper in the 26th. Desperate to break the partnership, South Africa burned a review following an LBW shout against Masood. Pakistan made it through to lunch on 107/1.
South Africa started the second session with a couple of maidens and the scoring-rate fell. Masood raised his fifty with a boundary through mid-on and hit a couple more boundaries off Rabada in the 36th to end the pacer’s second spell. South Africa then offered Pakistan a couple of reprieves in quick succession – first when Tony de Zorzi who put down a tough chance off Masood at short leg and then when Wiaan Mulder put a more straightforward catch off Imam down at mid-off.
Imam raised the 150-run stand with a six but the partnership came to an end in the 48th over when Subrayen trapped Masood LBW. Babar Azam then used DRS to overturn a decision for caught-behind in the very next over. He struck a flurry of boundaries to get going but South Africa managed to wrest back control. They ended the second session in emphatic fashion as Senuran Muthusamy managed to dismiss Imam, who missed out on a century by seven runs, and Saud Shakeel off successive deliveries to leave Pakistan on 199/4.
South Africa then started the final session well, managing to get Babar Azam lab with a review. Salman and Rizwan counterattacked with a few boundaries and regained control for their side. Even as the visitors toiled hard, they wouldn’t reap any further rewards in the rest of the session. There were a few moments of excitement with the ball already aiding the spinners but they weren’t able to dislodge the Salman-Rizwan pair. Both batters notched up their fifties and their unbeaten 114-run stand took Pakistan to 313/5 at Stumps. In total, 75 of the 90 overs were bowled by the South African spinners on Day 1.
Brief Scores: Pakistan 313/5 (Imam-ul-Haq 93, Shan Masood 76; Senuran Muthusamy 2-101) vs South Africa
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