Pakistan eye early wickets against South Africa on fourth day of first Test
Hosts chasing Green Shirts’ 148-run target to take lead in two-match Test series
CENTURION: Pakistan are eying early wickets on the fourth day of the first Test against South Africa who have resumed their second innings from 27-3 on Sunday.
Skipper Temba Bavuma (1*) and Aiden Markram (22*) are aiming to dig in and see their side achieve the 148-run target given by the Shan Masood-led side in the first fixture of the two-match Test series.
The series is part of the ICC World Test Championship.
Pakistan need to bag seven wickets, whereas South Africa need 121 runs to win the match and secure a lead in the series.
A day earlier, Mohammad Abbas and Khurram Shahzad struck early in the innings and put the home side under immense pressure. The former removed opener Tony de Zorri, and the latter dismissed his replacement, Ryan Rickelton.
Abbas struck again and removed Tristan Stubbs from the pitch all the while danger man Markram remained on the ground and was joined by skipper Bavuma.
Before that, Marco Jansen had registered a six-wicket haul in Pakistan’s second innings with the Men in Green getting bowled out at 237 runs against South Africa’s first innings total of 301.
The national side had scored 211 runs in the first innings.
Playing XIs
Pakistan: Shan Masood (captain), Saim Ayub, Babar Azam, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Rizwan, Saud Shakeel, Salman Ali Agha, Aamir Jamal, Naseem Shah, Khurram Shahzad and Mohammad Abbas.
South Africa: Tony de Zorzi, Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs, Temba Bavuma (captain), David Bedingham, Kyle Verreynne, Marco Jansen, Kagiso Rabada, Dane Paterson, and Corbin Bosch.
