Bosch was unbeaten on 81 and South Africa bowled out for 301 in an extended second session. They may still look back with some anger at the way some of the middle-order were dismissed either side of the lunch interval, instigated by a marathon 10-over spell from Naseem Shah. He took 3 for 49 in that time and asked questions of South Africa’s defence with good pace and smart lengths. After bowling too full earlier in the day, Naseem pulled his lengths back and the rewards came.
Kyle Verreynne was out off the 14th ball of the second session, playing a loose drive to a ball on fifth stump that he could have left. Two overs later, Naseem tested Marco Jansen with a tighter line, thought he drew the edge and then did but Saim Ayub put it down in the gully. In the end, that would not have mattered as Naseem had over-stepped. He did not have to wait too long to rectify his error. His next ball was back of a length and angling away, Jansen edged and was caught behind.
South Africa had only just got their noses in front at that point, led by two and Pakistan had the opportunity to keep things fairly even. But they were taken apart by Bosch for the second day running. He was aggressive on front and back foot and had a disciplined partner in Rabada, who pulled out one of the most eye-catching cover drives of the game.
When Aamer Jamal was brought back on half an hour before tea, Rabada’s patience ran out. He swiped across the line and sent the ball aerially in the direction of the non-striker.. Babar Azam took a good catch at short midwicket, looking into the sun to end what was becoming a frustrating partnership for Pakistan.
Bosch would go on to get his milestone and reached fifty with a stunning cover drive. His is the second-fastest fifty by a South African on debut. Then Paterson swung and scored four off Jamal and six when he hit Abbas over long-off. Desperate to end the lower-order resistance, Naseem was brought back after a brief break and bowled four more overs but could not get the breakthrough. Instead it was the part-time spin of Ayub, the only spinner used in the match so far, that did the trick. Paterson tried to launch him out of the ground but skied it to mid-off where Shahzad ran circles before taking the catch.
Earlier, Pakistan started the day slowly and lacked inspiration in the morning session where they opened with Naseem and Mohammad Abbas. Aside from early movement for Naseem, the bowlers didn’t challenge the batters enough and provided just enough loose deliveries for the run-scoring to tick along.
Resuming on 47, Markram quickly got to his half-century and creamed Abbas for a pair of boundaries. Bavuma was steady against Naseem aside from one thick outside edge that found a gap in the slips. With Shahzad not called upon for the first 90 minutes, Aamer Jamal eventually provided the breakthrough by landing the ball on a length, Bavuma prodded outside off and got an edge through to the wicketkeeper.
Bedingham initially appeared supremely assured and ensured the momentum stayed with South Africa. The scoring rate picked as the survival of an lbw review seemed to bring out his flamboyance against Naseem. That also brought about his downfall. Naseem pulled his length back and probed outside off and Bedingham was unable to resist a backfoot drive. He got an outside edge to first slip an over before lunch which sparked the collapse.
