RAWALPINDI – Proteas bowlers showed A-game, led by Keshav Maharaj’s career-best 7-wicket haul, to put visitors in control on day two of second Test against Pakistan at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.
By lunch, South Africa reached 9 without loss in three overs, trailing Pakistan’s first-innings total of 333 by 323 runs. Openers Aiden Markram and Ryan Rickelton began the reply confidently, each unbeaten on six when the players went in for the interval.
Pakistan, having been sent in to bat, made steady start through Imam-ul-Haq and Abdullah Shafique, who added 35 for the first wicket. Spinner Simon Harmer made the initial breakthrough, bowling Imam for 17.
Shafique then combined with skipper Shan Masood in a 111-run stand that steadied the innings. Both reached half-centuries—Masood’s 13th in Tests and Shafique’s sixth—as Pakistan crossed the 100-run mark with composure. Harmer again provided the breakthrough, removing Shafique for 57, before Keshav Maharaj trapped Babar Azam for 16 to leave Pakistan 167-3.
Masood fell agonisingly short of a century, dismissed for 87 after anchoring the innings with patience and power, striking two boundaries and three sixes. Mohammad Rizwan (19) and Saud Shakeel added 34 before Kagiso Rabada struck with an lbw to end Rizwan’s stay.
Resuming on 259-5 on the second morning, Pakistan looked to rebuild through Shakeel and Salman Ali Agha, who put on 70 valuable runs for the sixth wicket. Shakeel completed his ninth Test fifty, while Agha contributed a fluent 45 before falling to Maharaj.
The left-arm spinner then ran through the tail, dismissing Shakeel, Shaheen Afridi, Sajid Khan, and debutant Asif Afridi to finish with 7 for 102 from 42.4 overs—his best figures in Test cricket. Harmer supported well with 2 for 75, and Rabada took 1 for 54.
