South Africa lead Pakistan 1-0 as the teams head to Newlands for the second and final test match which gets under way on Friday 3rd January
Centurion hosted the first test match, it turned out to be a thriller and South Africa edged it by 2 wickets.
Pakistan were invited to bat first and they were all out for 211, Kamran Ghulam top scored with 54 and Dane Paterson took 5 wickets and Corbin Bosch claimed 4. The Proteas replied with 3-1 with Markram making 89 and Corbin Bosch, batting at No 9 was 81 not out.
The second innings saw Pakistan post 237 (Saud Shakeel 84) with Marco Jansen taking 6 wickets. At 19/3 the Proteas were wobbling but Bavuma made 40 and South Africa (150/8) got over the line. Mohammad Abbas took 6 wicktes in that final innings and Markram was named Man of the Match.
This was how the teams lined up for the first test
South Africa: Tony de Zorzi, Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs, Temba Bavuma (c), David Bedingham, Kyle Verreynne (wk), Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Kagiso Rabada, Dane Paterson
Pakistan: Shan Masood (c), Saim Ayub, Babar Azam, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saud Shakeel, Salman Agha, Aamer Jamal, Naseem Shah, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Abbas
South Africa Recent Form
South Africa won both test matches against Sri Lanka in November / December, coming out on top by margins of 233 runs at Kingsmead and 109 runs at St. Georges. Prior to that a tour of Bangladesh saw South Africa win both tests, the first by 7 wickets and the second by an innings and 273 runs. In August they drew the first of 2 tests in the West Indies and then won the second by 40 runs.
South Africa took an understrength squad to New Zealand in February this year and they lost both test matches by margins of 281 runs and then 7 wickets. A 2 match home series against India 12 months ago was shared 1-1.
Pakistan Recent Form
Pakistan were 2-1 winners at home to England in October, recovering from losing the first test (innings and 47 runs) with 2 comfortable wins (152 runs and 9 wickets).
Prior to that they lost 2-0 at home to Bangladesh and in Australia over December 23 / January 24 they lost 3-0.
Head to Head
Overall the teams have met 29 times with South Africa winning 16 to Pakistan's 6 and there have been 7 draws.
The Venue, Newlands, Cape Town
The Proteas have played 9 test matches at Newlands over the course of the last decade, winning 6, losing 2 and drawing 1
The most recent test match here came exactly 12 months ago and in a low scoring encounter South Africa (55 and 176) lost to India (153 and 80/3) by 7 wickets
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The Betting
At the time of writing South Africa are 11/20 to win with BetXchange with the draw at 21/2 and Pakistan can be backed at 19/10
Prices subject to change
The Verdict
The Proteas have now secured a place in the World Test Final and although the pressure is off to some degree they will be keen to keep the winning momentum in this format going.
Marco Jansen is my pick to be top SA wicket taker in the first innings and gut feel is Stubbs has a big knock in him, hopefully in the 1st innings.
Bet: 1st Innings Top SA Wicket Taker, Marco Jansen at 5/2 with Sportingbet
1st Innings Player To Sore 50, Stubbs at 23/10 with BetXchange
Prices subject to change
