Fawad Alam defies Proteas as Pakistan take worrying lead

A superb gritty hundred by Fawad Alam enabled Pakistan to take a first-innings lead of 88 as South Africa fumbled the ball in the final session of the second day of the first test at the National Stadium in Karachi on Wednesday.

From a desperate overnight position of 33 for four wickets, Pakistan finished the day on 308 for eight wickets, a valuable lead with the pitch scheduled to deteriorate sharply over the last three days.

After 14 wickets fell on the first day, only four further wickets fell on Wednesday for 275 runs.

South Africa’s bowlers were solid in the first two sessions on a low and slow pitch that behaved a little better with the uneven bounce less apparent.

Although the Proteas only captured two wickets – in the afternoon session – they kept the Pakistan run-rate in check at just above two runs an over. That changed dramatically in the final session when Pakistan scored 130 runs in 34 overs, a run-rate of 3.8 – almost twice as many runs as in the first two periods of play.

The disappointing session was symbolised by spinner Keshav Maharaj bowling a no-ball when he bowled Hasan Ali in the penultimate over of the day. The right-hander then mistimed a slog to long-on where Faf du Plessis dropped a difficult catch.

QUESTIONABLE DECISIONS

There were also some questionable decisions by captain Quinton de Kock who handed the second new ball to spinner Maharaj and then, even more surprisingly, to part-timer Aiden Markram. Lungi Ngidi, who had only bowled 12 overs in the innings, was only re-introduced into the attack late and immediately responded with the wicket of Alam in the 98th over as he clipped him to Temba Bavuma at short midwicket.

The left-hander with the unusual stance of facing towards square leg, has enjoyed a curious career with Pakistan. He began his test career in 2009 with 168 against Sri Lanka in Colombo – the only Pakistani to strike a century on debut outside his home country – and was then promptly dropped two matches later. More than a decade passed in the wilderness during which time he topped the Pakistan first-class averages season after season with an average of 56.

The 35-year-old Alam never uttered a word about his fate, but he must have felt deeply satisfied to strike his second test hundred last month against New Zealand and follow that up with his third in Karachi on Wednesday – an innings that help push his team from the depths of Tuesday evening to the relative heights of their score at the end of play on Wednesday.

In all he batted for a few minutes short of six hours, striking nine fours and two sixes in his 245-ball innings, a knock full of determination, patience and pain after he was hit about the body on a number of occasions.

Alam shared key partnerships of 94 in 228 balls with Azhar Ali (51 in 151 balls), 58 in 113 balls with Mohammad Rizwan (33 in 59 balls) and – most punishingly – 102 for the seventh wicket with Faheem Ashraf whose aggressive 64 in 84 balls gave the innings late impetus.

"It was my dream to score a hundred at home and what better time to do it then when the team was in a difficult situation," said Fawad, who now has 38 hundreds in first-class cricket.

"Azhar and I decided that we should bat long and take the total as close to South Africa as possible and I am happy that we have done close to that."

MISSED CHANCE

The South African bowlers stuck to their task reasonably well for most of the day with their pacemen – Kagiso Rabada, Ngidi and Anrich Nortje – picking up two wickets apiece while Maharaj was the sole spinner in the wickets, taking 2/71 in 29 overs.

The South Africans will regret missing one gilt-edged chance to snare Alam when Dean Elgar dropped him on 35 off Maharaj in the morning. The ball went low and sharply to his left, striking his boot before he could get his hands to the ball.

Indeed, the opening session went wicketless for the tourists as Pakistan slowly began to extricate themselves from their dire situation the previous evening. South Africa, at last, made the breakthrough in the 54th over when Ali, who had just reached his 33rd test 50, tried to cut a delivery from Maharaj that was too full and close to him, edging behind to De Kock who took a good catch. It was a rare mistake of judgment from the right-hander who had batted for 151 balls.

The pace of the Pakistan innings now accelerated with the arrival of Rizwan who was in a rich vein of form, having struck four half-centuries in his previous four tests. He was the dominant partner in the sixth-wicket partnership of 55 with Alam, cracking six fours in his 59-ball 33.

There was always a feeling, however, that he was giving the South African bowlers a chance and sure enough, in the last over before tea, he attempted an ambitious glide to third man off Ngidi, succeeding only in edging the ball to first slip where Du Plessis took a good low catch falling to his left.

The final session was decorated by the century partnership between Alam and Ashraf with the former reaching his century with a huge six over long-on off Maharaj. It was a joyous climax that didn’t quite reflect what had been a gritty, largely defensive innings that had been so vital to his country.

Report Day 1

PAKISTAN: Abid Ali, Imran Butt, Azhar Ali, Babar Azam (capt), Fawad Alam, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Faheem Ashraf, Yasir Shah, Hasan Ali, Nauman Ali, Shaheen Afridi

SOUTH AFRICA: Dean Elgar, Aiden Markram, Faf du Plessis, Rassie van der Dussen, Quinton de Kock (capt & wk), Temba Bavuma, George Linde, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje