Anrich Nortje claimed his third Test five-for – his first away from home – as Pakistan were dismissed for 272 half an hour before tea on the day two of the second Test in Rawalpindi.
ANRICH Nortje claimed his third Test five-for – his first away from home – as Pakistan were dismissed for 272 half an hour before tea on the day two of the second Test in Rawalpindi.
Hasan Ali then rocked the Proteas with two wickets dismissing Dean Elgar and Rassie van der Dussen with back-to-back deliveries to leave the tourists 26/2 at tea, with Markram not out on 10.
Hasan will be on a hat-trick when play resumes – he dismissed Elgar, who’d looked fidgety throughout his stay at the crease for 15, by inducing the outside edge which Mohammad Rizwan gleefully accepted. Off the very next delivery he snaked one back into Van der Dussen, the ball keeping low and smashing the off-stump out of the ground.
The 27 year old fast bowler’s use of the bouncer on a flat and lifeless surface was hugely impressive. It demands a lot of a bowler physically to do so, especially when there is no help from the surface as is the case in Rawalpindi.
Nortjé kept charging in, eventually finishing with 5/56 from 24.3 overs, his victims including the key wicket of Babar Azam – off the second ball of the day – while the other fours wickets all came with the short ball, which was delivered at pace and most importantly accurately throughout.
The other stand out performer for the Proteas was left arm spinner Keshav Maharaj, who came into the Test with a rib injury, which he said on Thursday was still causing him discomfort.
Nevertheless he bowled a marathon 45 overs, conceding 90 runs and picking up three wickets. He had to carry the extra load because of the injury to George Linde, who only managed 5.5 overs.
For Pakistan, Faheem Ashraf once again played a crucial innings, making 78 not out and helping to keep South Africa in the field longer than they would have wanted.
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