Pakistan lost three wickets without scoring a run but book-ended the mini collapse with partnerships of 161 and 114* to finish the first day well placed at 313-5 in the first test against South Africa at the Gadaffi Stadium in Lahore on Sunday.
Opener Imam-ul-Haq (93) and captain Shan Masood (76) brushed off the loss of Abdullah Shaffique (2) to the third ball of the match and took the score to 163-1 before Masood was trapped lbw by offspinner Prenelan Subrayen (20-0-72-1) with Imam and Babar Azam taking the total to 199-2.
But the tourists bounced firmly back into the contest with three quick wickets either side of the tea break and were themselves superbly placed with the home side faltering at 199-5.
Wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan (62*) and allrounder Salman Agha (52*) then guided the home to a daunting total by the close of play on a dry, cracked and grassless pitch which was offering generous turn from the outset and is expected to deteriorate quickly as the test continues.
Kagiso Rabada (13-2-43-1) trapped Shaffique lbw with one of the few deliveries which deviated for him throughout the day but, by and large, the second wicket partnership was untroubled as South Africa’s spinners were unable to apply pressure with consistent lengths with Pakistan reaching 107-1 at lunch.
The final two deliveries before tea, however, brought two wickets for left arm spinner Senuran Muthusamy (26-5-101-2) with left-hander Imam well caught at short leg by Tony de Zorzi after facing 153 balls (7x4, 1x6) and Saud Shakeel (0) nervously prodding a return catch to the bowler off a leading edge.
Shortly after the break Babar was pinned lbw by the impressive Simon Harmer (28-5-75-1) and South sensed they were just one wicket away from opening up the tail. It never happened despite batting conditions becoming noticeably more difficult even through the course of a single day.
Imam was dropped by Wiaan Mulder at mid off from the bowling of Subrayen shortly after reaching his 50, de Zorzi grassed a sharp chance at short leg to reprieve Masood off the same bowler and captain Aiden Markram missed Salman at slip off Muthusamy on 36 – all chances which might have made the day look significantly different.
Rabada (11-2-39-1) is effectively South Africa’s only fast bowler with Wiaan Mulder (2-0-13-0) bowling just two innocuous overs with the new ball before the spinners took over – Marco Jansen was omitted from the starting XI along with David Bedingham in favour of Dewald Brevis who is a renown player of spin bowling.
PAKISTAN: Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Shan Masood (captain), Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan (wkt), Salman Agha, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Noman Ali, Sajid Khan
SOUTH AFRICA: Tony de Zorzi, Ryan Rickelton, Wiaan Mulder, Aiden Markram (captain), Tristan Stubbs, Dewald Brevis, Kyle Verreynne (wkt), Senuran Muthusamy, Prenelan Subrayen, Kagiso Rabada, Simon Harmer