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Proteas hitter Aiden Markram
All three results are possible at the end of the fourth day of the second test between South Africa Y Pakistan.
South Africa, which was on the receiving end of another comeback from Pakistan, finished 127/1 in their pursuit of 370 after pitching Pakistan for 298.
They need 243 more races to win, but the bonus this time is that Aiden Markram (59 *) and Rassie van der Dussen (48 *) don’t lose their grounds at the end of the day.
Markram and Van der Dussen hit quite positively in their 94-run stand that currently encompasses 197 balls.
It helped make up for the early loss of a wicket that had the potential to derail what is a record fourth-inning chase in Pakistan.
The most successful chase in Pakistan is 315 by the home team against Australia in 1994, while the highest by a visiting team was 220/8 by Sri Lanka in 2000.
Dean Elgar (17) lived a lovely life with his entries consisting of four limits and one.
It ended meekly when he released a delivery from Shaheen Shah Afridi to Mohammad Rizwan.
George’s Linde’s excellent first round five wicket-hauls (5/54) was overshadowed by Mohammad Rizwan’s excellent unbeaten 115 *.
Rizwan’s first Test 100 was an excellent example of pressure transfer in test cricket.
The effervescent goalkeeper came in at 63/4 and profited from his life in four when he was brought down by Van der Dussen in front of Maharaj.
Resuming with 28, Rizwan moved to 50 of 113 balls while maintaining crucial partnerships with Hassan Ali (5), Yasir Shah (23) and Nauman Ali (45) that pushed SA’s goal beyond record proportions.
The position with Shah was draining energy, especially when De Kock bombed Shah in 10 in front of Keshav Maharaj (3/118).
It wasn’t the runs Shah scored that was worrying, but the fact that Rizwan kept scoring freely.
He was safe in the knowledge that Shah, a probationary centurion, could more than put up with his part.
When Shah fell to Linde, Naumann found a perfect combination of attack and defense that allowed Rizwan to play with the freedom necessary to reach 100.
If the 53-race alliance between Shah and Rizwan went flat, the 97-race position between Nauman and Rizwan blew away the remaining wind from SA’s sails.
The partnership took SA beyond historic fourth-inning chases, like Pakistan’s famous 315 against Australia in Karachi in 1994.
While Nauman caught Elgar in the midwicket with his Test 50 in sight, along with Afridi, which was Linde’s fifth wicket, Pakistan failed to extend the lead to 400
However, Pakistan’s last five wickets had lifted 222 runs.
That’s 21 more than South Africa achieved in all its first innings.
In the first test, Pakistan’s last five scalps collected 257, 37 more than SA’s first dig in that game.
That has been the difference between the teams.
But at least Linde, Markram and Van Der Dussen have given the Proteas hope heading into the final day.
