Pakistan has defeated South Africa by 95 runs in the second Test match and has won the series 2-0. Hasan Ali was the star of the show as he picked up 10 wickets in the game. With this Pakistan have won a Test series against South Africa after a long gap of 17 years.
On start of Day 5, South Africa needed 243 runs to win the match. Hasan Ali’s two strikes in the span of first four overs gave Pakistan an uplift. Temba Bavuma and Aiden Markram then came together to stitch a brilliant partnership and were looking to take the game away from Pakistan.
Hasan swung the pendulum in Pakistan’s favour when he got Markram to edge to slip, and the centurion kept striking his pad in disgust with the way he got out. Quinton de Kock’s disappointing run continued as he fell to an ugly shot, going for an expansive drive and paid for it with a golden duck.
Bavuma was South Africa’s last ray of hope but the middle order batsman fell for 61 getting a thin edge off Shaheen Afridi. Next was celebration time for Hasan who had George Linde caught at point to bag a 10-wicket haul for the first time in his Test career. This was also Pakistan’s first 10 wicket haul since Yasir Shah bagged one against New Zealand in November 2018. Afridi pocketed two more wickets to finish with four in the innings while Yasir picked up the last to help Pakistan complete the demolition work.
Earlier, South Africa lost Rassie van der Dussen in the first over of the day, bowled by Hasan who also trapped Faf du Plessis in front a few overs later. But South Africa did well to recover from the early blows as Markram and Bavuma batted with discipline to keep the bowlers at bay while also scoring at a steady rate. Yasir Shah did go past the bat a few times but the batsmen put that behind them as they built a good partnership, capitalising on the loose deliveries, rotating the strike while being solid with their defence.
Markram, like he did on Day 4, was also confident coming down the track to Yasir to dispatch one over the long-off fence. Bavuma, meanwhile, got a thick outside edge for a four when he tried to cut a Faheem Ashraf delivery. But he made no mistake when Yasir bowled one short, cutting with authority and also creamed a drive through cover off Nauman Ali while Markram executed a slog sweep. With a single off Fawad Alam off the last ball before the break, Markram got to three figures for the first time in 27 innings.
The opener continued handling the bowlers without any problems in the post-lunch period, as did Bavuma who reached fifty while the partnership crossed the 100-run mark. But the second new ball changed the fortunes quickly, with Hasan and Afridi running through South Africa.
Hasan was also the hero in the first innings, helping Pakistan gain a crucial lead of 71 runs by bowling South Africa out for 201. Anrich Nortje and Linde also bagged fifers in the first and second innings respectively but Pakistan’s lower order contributions, coupled with South Africa’s inability in the same department, led to the downfall of the visiting side.
