1st Test
Day-4 Morning Session Highlights:
South Africa team has secured the WTC Final spot with thrilling victory
At The Lunch of Day-4:
Pakistan scored 211 (1st Innings) & 237 (2nd Innings), where as South Africa scored 301 (1st Innings) & 150/8 (2nd Innings).
So, finally South Africa beat Pakistan by two wickets.
South Africa secured their place in the World Test Championship final at Lord’s in June with a thrilling two-wicket victory over Pakistan in Centurion.
The match, which saw momentum shift between both teams until the very end, saw South Africa needing 121 runs on Day 4.
They were in a strong position at 96 for 4, but Mohammad Abbas, who recorded career-best figures of 6-54 and bowled 15.3 consecutive overs, sparked a mini-collapse that left South Africa reeling at 99 for 8.
However, a crucial unbeaten 51-run partnership for the ninth wicket between Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen guided South Africa to victory, rendering Abbas’ heroic efforts in vain.
Earlier, South Africa had to chase 121 runs.
Aiden Markram and Temba Bavuma started cautiously, playing the ball on merit and avoiding anything outside the off-stump.
Markram drove beautifully through the covers, while Bavuma hit a six off Abbas, aided by a misstep from Naseem Shah, who stepped over the boundary line while catching the ball.
But the tide turned after the drinks break, when Abbas finally got his reward.
He bowled a low delivery that hit Markram’s off-stump, sending him back to the pavilion.
Bavuma and David Bedingham managed to reduce the target to 52, but Bavuma’s bizarre dismissal, caught behind off his trousers by Abbas, triggered a collapse.
Bavuma, who had survived two earlier appeals for similar incidents, left the field without reviewing, sparking South Africa’s downfall from 96 for 4 to 99 for 8.
Naseem Shah then dismissed Kyle Verreyne, who chopped onto his stumps, and Abbas followed up by claiming Bedingham and Corbin Bosch in consecutive deliveries.
Abbas was relentless, bowling through from the start of Day 4 until the end.
Despite the collapse, Jansen and Rabada showed resilience, leaving balls outside the off-stump and capitalizing on any loose deliveries from Abbas and Naseem.
They survived until lunch with the score at 116 for 8.
After the break, it took South Africa 5.3 overs to seal the win, but not before Rabada survived a nick off Abbas that didn’t carry to Rizwan behind the stumps.
Rabada, in particular, was in sublime form, hitting a boundary off Naseem over cover, and Jansen followed with a square cut off Abbas, reducing the target to just 15 runs.
The crowd’s excitement grew as the tension mounted.
Pakistan then made an unusual move, bringing Aamer Jamal into the attack for the first time in the innings, but he proved costly.
Rabada smashed him for two boundaries in an 11-run over, and Jansen sealed the win with another square cut off Abbas to the boundary.
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