South Africa made significant progress on day two of the first Test, reducing their deficit to just 31 runs with five wickets remaining, thanks in part to Aiden Markram’s steady progress towards a century. The Centurion pitch, which had started to flatten out, offered little assistance to Pakistan’s bowlers, who struggled to maintain consistent pressure throughout much of the day.
Pakistan began with Naseem Shah and Mohammad Abbas, but while Naseem showed some early movement, the bowlers were unable to trouble the South African batsmen consistently. Loose deliveries allowed the run rate to rise steadily, and Pakistan’s attack lacked the sharpness required to make breakthroughs. Markram reached his half-century quickly, including a couple of boundaries off Abbas, while Temba Bavuma played solidly against Naseem, despite a thick outside edge that narrowly missed the slips.
Also Read: Pakistan Finalizes Squad for South Africa Tour
Khurram Shahzad was not called upon until 90 minutes into the session, and it was Aamer Jamal who made the breakthrough, dismissing Bavuma with a well-directed ball outside off stump, which was edged to the wicketkeeper. Unlike Pakistan’s batting collapse earlier, South Africa held their composure after the wicket, with David Bedingham playing with confidence and maintaining the momentum for the hosts. His aggressive stroke play followed a successful lbw review, which seemed to lift his spirits.
Naseem later changed his approach, testing Bedingham outside off, and eventually forcing an edge to first slip, where Kamran Ghulam took a clean catch. Despite this late breakthrough, Pakistan will be hopeful that this dismissal offers them a chance to close the gap and prevent South Africa from building a commanding lead in the match.
