In the first ICC World Test Championship match in Lahore, Pakistan achieved victory by 93 runs over South Africa, putting an end to the visitors’ almost unbelievable streak of 10 Test matches won. The game was finished after an exciting four days of playing cricket at Gaddafi Stadium, and Pakistan’s coming of age Table was too much for the current world champions with a combination of patient batting, spin without pause, and reverse swing.
Chasing a target of 277 on a pitch that had increasingly deteriorated since the first day, South Africa’s hopes rested on their young batting core. But history never favored them; no team had ever chased down a target in Lahore. Shaheen Shah Afridi and Noman Ali made it a harder task as Afridi dismissed Tony de Zorzi in the first over of the morning. De Zorzi fell, bowled through the gate by Afridi. Soon after, Tristan Stubbs tried to reverse sweep, failing in spectacular fashion when Salman Agha took another catch at slip. Now the visitors were on the back foot at 55 for 4. Dewald Brevis and Ryan Rickelton managed to resist for a little while.
Brevis, playing just his third Test, counterattacked in a flamboyant manner. He went after the spinners, hitting Noman for a six and two fours in one blow, and even pulled off a no-look shot over long-on to strike a brilliant fifty off 54 balls. He instilled brief hope to South Africa in his innings, but Noman, who was very patient, finally got the delivery he’d been searching for – a ball that turned sharp from a good length and crashed into the stumps. Brevis was out for 54 runs from an innings that gave South African morale a brief lift but contained six fours and two sixes. Rickelton battled valiantly for 45 runs from 145 balls before Sajid Khan’s off spin beat his defence just before the lunch break, a dismissal that swung the match heavily back in favour of Pakistan.
After the break, Senuran Muthusamy was castled leg-before by Sajid Khan, exposing the South African tail. Afridi was called back to the attack and Picked up where he left off with the reversing ball. One sharply dipping delivery trapped Kyle Verreynne plumb in front, and the left-armer’s intensity grew further. He would go on to deliver two full, swinging yorkers before bowling Prenelan Subrayen and Kagiso Rabada in consecutive overs, bringing South Africa’s collapse to a conclusion at 183. Afridi finished with 4 for 33, whilst Noman rounded out another match-winning effort with 4 for 79 and a ten-wicket haul to boot.
Previously, it was Pakistan whose total of 378 in their first innings, which has been based on consistent contributions throughout the batting line-up, offered enough of a buffer on a testing surface. South Africa did well and fought bravely, but was always in a position to react as Pakistan’s spinners pressed and Willey could finish the affair. The triumph reaffirmed Pakistan’s strength at home and highlighted their capacity to successfully defend a challenging total on a difficult pitch, giving them a 1-0 lead in the series and putting an end to South Africa’s extraordinary run of Test match wins.
