CENTURION: Corbin Bosch the fast bowler maintained a great debut season in South Africa by scoring a record-breaking half-century while Marco Jansen. The left-arm fast bowler took two late wickets to give South Africa an advantage on the second day of the first Test against Pakistan at SuperSport Park on Friday.
Bosch’s unbeaten 81 off 93 balls — the highest by a No 9 batter on his Test debut — helped South Africa get a 90-run first-innings lead: the hosts were bowled out for 301, and the bowlers made it negation by getting three wickets when Pakistan tried to overcome the deficit.
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Jansen then bowled Hasan for 17 and Stoinis had Azhar Ali caught by Glen Somerset for 13 in the same over as Pakistan were dismissed for 88 in their second innings; two runs in arrears when bad light stopped play early, Babar Azam 16 not out and Saud Shakeel 8.
South Africa would be assured of a place in next year’s World Test Championship final for the first time if it wins either of the two Tests in this two-Test series scheduled for the Super Kings.
The game was balanced again when the opener Aiden Markram was dismissed at 89 and South Africa at 213 for 8 — level with Pakistan’s first innings total of 211.
Two South African wickets had gone for 35 runs either side of lunch, and three of them had been taken by Naseem Shah in a spicy spell, and the teams might begin the second innings almost level.
But Bosch, who averages in the 40s as a batsman, looked very comfortable and was fluent in his shot selection while on the field, as he put on 41 for the seventh wicket with Kagiso Rabada who made 13 and 47 for the eighth wicket with Dane Paterson who scored 12.
“I think that often in Test cricket, tailenders contribute some runs,” he said to the media after the day’s play. “Since he [Bosch] is an all-rounder, he played well and it was frustrating that you do not want the last-wicket stand to go on for that long. But as a bowler, one can only try to bowl in the right areas.
”It is never easy to get used to conditions that are different from what you are used to at your home ground It is always a test of patience and this is when you have to bowlperform with great discipline and try to get used to the conditions as soon as you can”, said Naseem another who bowled a tight ten-over spell after getting Mundie in the first session in two different occasions. “The team required my services at that juncture and when a captain wants you to play, you are always prepared and that is supposed to be the trait of any fast bowler.”
When the home team started at 82 for three, Pakistan replied strongly with the wickets of captain Temba Bavuma (31) and David Bedingham (30) both got out to wickets behind.
Markram came through with a beautiful cover drive to get a fifty and then added 70 runs for the fourth wicket along with Bavuma before Pakistan sniffed their first chance.
For his unwavering line and lengths at Bavuma, the South African captain found an outside edge to a loose drive.
Bedingham answered up to the challenge immediately and hit five boundaries in his 33-ball stay, and when Pakistan decided to use up a review against Naseem for an lbw, which was off the full-pitched delivery that would have harmlessly missed the leg stump had the television umpire been used.
Nonetheless, Naseem, who returned figures of 3-92, didn’t have to wait long for the breakthrough, and Bedingham, pushing forward found extra bounce that took his outside edge to first slip in the penultimate over before lunch.
Naseem then dismissed Kyle Verreynne and Jansen in the early part of the second session and South Africa appeared to have lost their grip when Markram, who had beautifully bided his time as he moved towards a test hundred, carelessly lunged at a short ball from Khurram Shahzad and got caught and bowled to wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan.
However, Bosch played a mature innings on his home ground to the disgust of Pakistan bowlers and on his. mustering 4-63 on the opening day when he joined the illustrious list of cricketers who took a wicket on his maiden Test commentary service.
Bosch was the master of the all-out Pakistan pacers, vigilante in amassing 15 fours from straight drives and pull shots. It was 43 when Rabada skied Aamer’s short ball to Babar at short mid-wicket.
Bosch was stuck on 46 when partnered with Paterson but swept a delivery in the next over to the boundary and reached his fifty before continuing with some batting display.
Even in the batting, Paterson while playing the ball straight clobbered a straight six off Mohammad Abbas, who has come into this Test arena after more than three years. Bosch was heading for an attractive century but Paterson lost his cool and holed part-time spinner Saim Ayub and Khurram took a great running catch over his head on mid-off to polish off the tail.
Bosch, son of Test cricketer Tertius who passed died when Corbin was five years old, would have been close to the bottom of any list of probable Test fast bowlers at the start of the season.
However, a long list of casualties involving bigger fish, plus good recent form, probably aided in his cause.
Bosch handed a new ball to Kagiso Rabada at the start of Pakistan’s second essay however did not pick up a wicket and went to the pavilion after bowling three overs.
Saim and Shan Masood, who scored 28, imposed themselves well to reduce the home side’s substantial lead but three wickets in the final session of play put the wind back in the sails of South Africa.
Rabada who was brilliant in the first innings and was unlucky not to get a wicket in that spell, cleaned up Saim’s off stump and Jansen and then had Shan caught at third slip and Kamran Ghulam who had been the top scorer in the first innings was caught at gully before the light intervened.
SCOREBOARD
PAKISTAN (1st Innings) 211
SOUTH AFRICA (1st Innings, overnight 82-3):
A. Markram c Rizwan b Khurram 89
T. de Zorzi b Khurram 2
R. Rickelton was dismissed by Khurram on caught by Rizwan 8
T. Stubbs lbw Abbas 9
T. Bavuma c Rizwan b Aamir 31
D. Bedingham c Kamran b Naseem Gol 30
K. Verreynne bowled Salman out for 2 by Naseem
M. Jansen c Rizwan b Naseem 2
C. Bosch, not out 81
K. Rabada c Babar b Aamir 13
D. Paterson Khurram b Saim 12
EXTRAS (B-10, LB-6, NB-5, W-1) 22
TOTAL: All out in 73.4 over: 301
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-7 (de Zorzi), 2-24 (Rickelton), 3-66 (Stubbs), 4-136 (Bavuma) , 5-178 (Bedingham), 6-188 (Verreynne) 7-191 (Jansen), 8-213 (Markram), 9-254 (Rabada)
BOWLING: Khurram 20-1-75-3, Abbas 21-4-79-1 (2nb), Naseem 22-1-92-3 (3nb), Aamir 8-1-36-2 (1w), Saim 2.4-0-3-1
PAKISTAN (2nd Innings):
Saim Ayub b Rabada 27
Shan Masood & Stubbs b Jansen 28
Babar Azam not out 16
For Kamran Ghulam c Rickelton b Jansen 4
Saud Shakeel not out 8
EXTRAS (B-1, LB-3, NB-1) 5
TOTAL (for three wickets, 22 overs) 88
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-49 Saim, 2-70 Shan 3-74 Kamran
STILL TO BAT: Mohammad Rizwan, Salman Ali Agha, Amir Jamal, Nasem Shah, Khurram Shehzad, Mohammad Abbas
BOWLING: Rabada 7.1/30/1 (1nb), Bosch 3/18/0, Paterson 8/19/0, Jansen 4/17/0.