Masood remains unbeaten with a century, while Babar failed to break his two-year century drought.
In Cape Town’s batting paradise, Pakistan collapsed to under 200 and faced a follow-on after poor batting performance. However, the same team managed to go past 200 in the next innings without losing a wicket! Shan Masood and Babar Azam formed a remarkable opening partnership, with Masood scoring a century.
The match is still under South Africa’s control, but Pakistan has gained belief in their fightback.
At the end of Day 3 of the second Test, Pakistan’s second innings stood at 1 wicket for 213. After being bowled out for 194 in the first innings and following on, the team now has 9 wickets in hand, trailing by 208 runs.
Masood is playing at 102 runs off 166 balls, with 14 fours, marking his sixth Test century. Babar, who looked set to break his century drought, was dismissed for 81. This was his third consecutive half-century in the series.
The opening partnership between the two reached 205 runs, which is the highest follow-on opening partnership by any team. The previous record was 204 runs by South Africa’s Graeme Smith and Neil McKenzie against England at Lord’s in 2008.
This is also the first 200-run partnership for Pakistan in any follow-on scenario. The previous highest was 154 runs between Hanif Mohammad and Saeed Ahmed for the third wicket against the West Indies in 1958.
There is only one larger partnership for Pakistan against South Africa: Asad Shafiq and Younis Khan’s 219-run partnership for the fifth wicket in Cape Town in 2013.
Interestingly, this was not Pakistan’s regular opening pair. After regular opener Saim Ayub was injured on Day 1, Babar opened for the first time in his Test career. Despite an early break in the first innings, the partnership reached a record-breaking height in the second innings.
Pakistan began Day 3 with 64 for 3 in the first innings, and Babar and Mohammad Rizwan managed to see off the first hour without trouble. Babar, who began with 31 runs, brought up his half-century in 112 balls.
After the water break, South Africa’s 18-year-old debutant pacer, Khanyo Mafaika, took Babar’s wicket for his first-ever Test scalp.
Babar made 58 off 127 balls, hitting 7 fours. Rizwan was bowled out by Vian Mulder for 46 runs off 82 balls.
From there, Pakistan lost 6 wickets for 76 runs, and South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada emerged as the most successful bowler with 3 wickets for 55 runs off 15 overs.
Despite being 421 runs behind in the second innings, Masood and Babar fought back, putting up a century partnership in 132 balls.
This is Pakistan’s first century opening partnership in Tests since Abdullah Shafique and Imam-ul-Haq’s 225-run stand in Rawalpindi in 2022.
Masood reached his first-ever century in South Africa after hitting Marco Jansen for a boundary. It took him 159 balls to reach 102, making it his 6th Test century and joining the ranks of Pakistan’s Test openers like Saeed Anwar and Amir Sohail who have scored centuries in this position.
After Masood’s dismissal, Babar was caught in the gully off Jansen for 81, ending a 288-ball partnership. ‘Nightwatchman’ Khurram Shahzad joined Masood to see out the remaining time.
Brief Score:
South Africa 1st Innings: 615
Pakistan 1st Innings: 194 (Babar 58, Rizwan 46, Salman 10, Jamal 15, Shahzad 14, Hamza 13, Abbas 0*; Rabada 3/55, Jansen 1/36, Mafaika 2/43, Mulder 1/44, Maharaj 2/14)
Pakistan 2nd Innings (Follow-on): 213/1 (Masood 102*, Babar 81, Shahzad 8*; Rabada 0/56, Jansen 1/56, Mulder 0/16, Mafaika 0/31, Maharaj 0/36, Markram 0/6)
