South Africa 184 for 3 (Rickelton 106*, Bavuma 51*) vs Pakistan

Abbas bowled 19.3 consecutive overs at SuperSport Park last weekend for a career-best 6 for 54, took the new ball and almost had immediate success. His first delivery hit Markam on the front pad and Pakistan thought they had the first wicket. Umpire Nitin Menon was unmoved so they reviewed but replays showed it was clipping the top of off. Markram survived on umpire’s call.

The first real trouble for Pakistan came in the next over when Rickelton edged Abbas through the cordon and Aamer Jamal and Ayub chased it from gully. Jamal got to the ball first and Ayub was on hand to pick up the relay fell over and appeared in sudden and severe pain.

Pakistan’s mood dipped and the next five overs cost 22 runs, as South Africa’s openers brought up a fifty-run stand. It is only their second half-century partnership since March 2023, after Markam and de Zorzi put on 55 against Sri Lanka in Gqeberha.

Abbas finally had the ball taken out of his hands after six overs, which meant he had delivered 25.3 consecutive overs in the series, and was replaced by Hamza from the other end as Saud Shakeel rotated his three premier quicks. The chance came from Khurram Shahzad, who had Markram driving loosely straight to substitute fielder Abdullah Shafique. After three ducks in the ODIs and no game time since, Shafique was under pressure and the ball went straight into and out of his hands. Markram was on 17.

No actual damage was done as, in the next over, Markram slashed at a ball that just moved away and inside-edged through to Mohammad Rizwan. Shahzad kept the pressure on and induced an edge off Rickelton but the chance fell short of the cordon, who were standing quite deep. That brought Wiaan Mulder to the crease, promoted above Tristan Stubbs for this match, but his stay at No.3 may be short-lived. Abbas returned after a seven-over break and his unerring accuracy found Mulder’s outside edge to give Pakistan a second wicket.

Aamer Jamal was brought towards the end of the session, as was Salman Agha. He is expected to play a big role with the ball, after not bowling at all at SuperSport Park, and duly got a wicket in his first over. On the stroke of lunch, Tristan Stubbs stayed back to a tossed-up ball and edged to Rizwan.

Pakistan squandered the opportunity to maximise their advantage after the break when they stuck with Jamal and Agha instead of bringing on one of their strike bowlers. Bavuma got his first runs when he steered Jamal to deep third and unfurled a series of gorgeous drives to continue his fine form this summer.

Mir Hamza came on five overs after the break and Khurram Shehzad was brought on after eight overs. By then, Rickelton was into the 60s. Two boundaries came off Shahzad’s first second-session over and the sting was taken out of Pakistan’s attack. They allowed South Africa easy run-scoring opportunities with the field spread and a variety of lengths on offer.

Rickelton entered the 90s with back to back boundaries off Shahzad and quietly worked his way to 99. He only faced one ball in the next two overs as Bavuma kept strike but when Agha bowled one on his pads, he whipped it away to bring up a second hundred in three Tests. Two overs later Bavuma brought up fifty off 82 balls and increased his batting average this summer to 74.66. The South African captain now has 25 Test fifties with just three hundreds and might eye today as the one to convert.