Day 2 Lunch: South Africa 223 (Bavuma 53, Amir 4-62) lead Pakistan 181 (Babar 71, Olivier 6-37) by 42 runs
South Africa squeezed out a narrow 42-run lead on the second morning at Centurion, Temba Bavuma‘s fifty and Quinton de Kock‘s 45 carrying the hosts to 223 all out. There were two wickets apiece for Mohammad Amir and Shaheen Shah Afridi before lunch, with Amir collecting figures of 4 for 62 on a pitch that behaved a little better than it had on the first day, but still offered encouragement for the quicks.
The Test was finely balanced going into the second day and the early dismissal of Dale Steyn, edging an attempted thrash after he’d clubbed a couple of boundaries in the early exchanges of the morning, brought de Kock and Bavuma together as the last recognised pair.
While de Kock looked to play as he usually does, simplifying his attacking intent, Bavuma eased calmly to his third Test fifty in the calendar year and looked a picture of composure at the crease. But there was enough in the track, even with the old ball, to keep the bowlers interested, and Afridi shot one across his bows to find Bavuma’s outside edge shortly before drinks.
It was a cracking delivery to remove a set batsman, but de Kock remained and he continued to pepper the cover boundary with Keshav Maharaj for company. De Kock put South Africa ahead with a languid drive to an Afridi full toss that sent the ball purring across the outfield, keeping his strike-rate close to a run a ball.
With Pakistan focusing their attack on the lower order, Maharaj was removed with judicious use of a review when Hasan Ali jagged one off the seam to ping his front pad. Umpire Bruce Oxenford was not convinced, but replays showed three reds and South Africa were eight down and just seven runs ahead.
De Kock and Kagiso Rabada made sure that number continued to inflate. Rabada was used as a pinch-hitter during Jozi Stars’ successful run to the inaugural Mzansi Super League title earlier this month and started in much the same vein, whipping the second and third balls he faced to the boundary on either side of the wicket.
He added two more handsome drives to dominate a 31-run stand with de Kock before Afridi lured him into a waft outside off that sent an edge flying straight to Asad Shafiq at second slip. Amir then outfoxed de Kock with a canny slower ball, the South African spooning a catch to Fakhar Zaman at cover as he looked to keep the strike with some tip-and-run cricket. The wicket fell on the stroke of lunch, and Pakistan’s first job with the bat after the interval will be to erase the lead on a track that will continue to test their top order’s resolve.