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DAY 2: Bosch, Markram and Jansen star for Proteas on day two

tennis27 December 2024 15:33| © MWP
By:Neil Manthorp
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Aiden Markram fell agonisingly short of a century but Corbin Bosch scored a scintillating, unbeaten 81 to steer South Africa to a total of 301 all out before Marco Jansen claimed two late wickets to help reduce Pakistan to 88-3 in their second innings on the second day of the first test against Pakistan at SuperSport Park in Centurion on Friday.

The hosts earned a precious lead of 90 runs having dismissed Pakistan for 211 on the first day with Dane Paterson (5-61) and debutant Bosch (4-63) sharing nine wickets and the tourists were therefore still two runs in arrears when bad light brought a premature close to the day’s play.

Markram guided the South African innings until 10 overs after the lunch break adding a further another 52 runs with captain Temba Bavuma to extend their fourth-wicket partnership to 70 before Bavuma’s patient innings of 31 from 74 balls ended with an outside edge against medium pacer Amir Jamal to ‘keeper Rizwan.

David Bedingham (30 from 33 balls) looked in fine form with five sweetly timed boundaries before an out-of-sorts Nassem Shah finally found the right length and an outside edge to Kamran Ghulam at first slip five minutes before the lunch interval.

Kyle Verreynne (2) and Marco Jansen (2) departed soon after lunch to Naseem (3-92) who had both men caught in the cordon and when Markram’s excellent, disciplined innings of 89 from 144 balls finally came to an end in the 10th over after lunch, gloving a bouncer from seamer Khurram Shahzad to Rizwan, South Africa were 213-8 with a lead of just two runs and seemingly in trouble on a pitch producing increasingly uneven and unpredictable bounce.

What would have been an eighth and well-deserved century for Markram contained 15 sumptuous boundaries, mostly cut and driven straight or through the off side.

Bosch, however, continued his dream debut with an exhilarating counterattack with the powerful allrounder playing some glorious cover drives and clips off his pads in an innings of 81* from just 93 balls with 15 boundaries, first in the company of Kagiso Rabada (13) with whom he added 41 for the ninth wicket and then another 47 with last man Dane Paterson who smashed a four and a six in his innings of 12.

A deflated Pakistan team began to repair the damage with an opening stand of 49 before the brilliant Kagiso Rabada clipped the top of opener Saim Ayub’s off stump with a brutal off cutter from around the wicket and fellow opener Shan Masood edged Jansen low to Tristan Stubbs at third slip.

Both men made 28.

South Africa claimed the final session honours with a third wicket when Kamran Ghulam (4) edged Jansen (4-0-17-2) low to gully where Ryan Rickelton held another excellent, low catch.

On a pitch continuing to provide seam movement for the fast bowlers and with continuing signs of uneven bounce South Africa’s 90-run lead will most likely prove to be a match-winning one.

On 11 previous occasions that the home side have enjoyed a lead of 50+ runs at SuperSport Park, they have won every time.

But a fourth innings run-chase of around 150 may yet prove to be a nail-biter.

SOUTH AFRICA: Tony de Zorzi, Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs, Temba Bavuma (captain), David Bedingham, Kyle Verreynne, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Kagiso Rabada, Dane Paterson.

PAKISTAN: Shan Masood (captain), Saim Ayub, Babar Azam, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Rizwan (wkt), Saud Shakeel, Salman Agha, Amir Jamal, Naseem Shah, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Abbas.

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