Markram stands firm to keep South Africa on top in first Pakistan Test

• Pakistan’s Khurram Shahzad dismisses two Proteas batters. 
• Mohammad Abbas takes wicket of Tristan Stubbs on Day 1. 
• South Africa now trails by 129 runs with 7 wickets in hand.

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South Africa concluded the opening day of the first Test against Pakistan as the side scored 82 runs at the loss of three wickets at the SuperSport Park, Centurion on Thursday. 

Beginning their inning, the Proteas had received an early blow from Pakistan’s Khurram Shahzad as he dismissed opening batter Tony de Zori in the third over. 

The other opener, Aiden Markram, was joined by Ryan Rickelton but Shahzad struck again and dismissed the newcomer after he just added eight runs to the scoreboard. 

Rickelton’s replacement, Tristan Stubbs, faced 28 balls while Markram steadily added runs to the scoreboard.

Stubbs cameo was short-lived as he fell against Mohammad Abbas on nine runs.

Markram remained steady throughout the innings and was then joined by skipper, Temba Bavuma and the pair continued to bat towards the end of the day.

Markram’s score at Stumps was 47 off 67 while the captain added four runs off 23 balls.

Pakistan’s Shahzad took two scalps while Abbas dismissed one South African batter. South Africa now trails by 129 runs. 

Earlier, the Proteas pacers had rattled Pakistan and bundled the side out on 211 runs in their first innings with Dane Paterson taking a five-wicket haul as Corbin Bosch took four scalps with Marco Jansen taking the final wicket of the inning.

Pakistan’s opener Saim Ayub fell at 14 and Babar Azam at 4. Whereas, Shan Masood was routed for 17 and Saud Shakeel for 14.

The disappointment continued for Pakistan with the fall of Kamran Ghulam after he scored 54 runs, the highest score from any batter in the innings.

It kept on getting worse for Masood’s men with the dismissals of wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan (27 off 62), Salman Ali Agha (18 off 34) and Aamer Jamal (28 off 27).

After a duck from Naseem Shah, it was all up to Khurram Shahzad and Mohammad Abbas. The duo put up a strong stand and helped Pakistan cross the 200-run mark against the Proteas.

The partnership, however, was soon broken by Jansen who dismissed Khurram and brought an end to Pakistan’s first innings.

After winning the toss, South Africa elected to field first against Pakistan.

Proteas are chasing a place in next year’s World Test Championship final but, in order to do so, they must win at least one Test in the series against Pakistan.

“It was a tricky decision to make but we’d like to hav]e a go with the new ball,” said South Africa captain Temba Bavuma after winning the toss.

The pitch at Centurion traditionally offers plenty of seam movement for the bowlers.

The home side named their team on Tuesday with 30-year-old fast bowler Corbin Bosch to debut in an all-seamer bowling line-up, joining Marco Jansen, Kagiso Rabada and Dane Paterson in the home attack as he gets an opportunity because of a long injury list among the country’s fast bowlers.

Pakistan also selected a side without a specialist spinner, with Mohammad Abbas, Aamer Jamal, Naseem Shah and Khurram Shahzad in their bowling attack.

Abbas plays his first Test in three years while Naseem is back after being dropped for the last two tests against England in October. Shahzad was injured for that three-Test series.

“The last couple of times we’ve played at Centurion, we’ve gone with the seam attack and we’ve seen some success. The pitch does not favour the spinners at all,” said Bavuma.

“Conditions favour the seamers,” added Pakistan captain Shan Masood, “but you get a lot of value for your shots so it’s about picking the right balls and getting a decent first innings score on the board.”

Babar Azam, also dropped for the last two Tests against England at home in October, returns which means Masood will open the batting alongside Saim Ayub.

The 22-year-old Ayub scored two centuries as Pakistan thrashed South Africa 3-0 in their One Day International series last week.

Pakistan XI: Shan Masood (capt), Saim Ayub, Babar Azam, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saud Shakeel, Salman Agha, Aamer Jamal, Naseem Shah, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Abbas

South Africa XI: Aiden Markram, Tony de Zorzi, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs, Temba Bavuma (capt), David Bedingham, Kyle Verreynne (wk), Marco Jansen, Kagiso Rabada, Dane Paterson, Corbin Bosch

Schedule of matches:

First Test — Dec 26 to Dec 30 at the SuperSport Park, Centurion

Second Test — Jan 3 to Jan 7 at the Newlands Cricket Ground, Cape Town