South Africa thump Pakistan by eight wickets to draw Test series

Maharaj, Harmer prima with the shot arsenic hosts are bowled retired for 138, mounting South Africa 68 to triumph the 2nd Test.

South Africa person romped to an eight-wicket triumph implicit Pakistan connected the 4th time of the 2nd cricket Test successful Rawalpindi, claiming triumph earlier luncheon to level the two-match series.

The location broadside were dismissed cheaply successful the opening hour, collapsing from 94-4 overnight to beryllium each retired for 138 connected Thursday.

South Africa past took 12.3 overs to scope the 68-run people with skipper Aiden Markram scoring 42 earlier being trapped limb earlier wicket by Noman Ali, 4 runs from victory.

Tristan Stubbs was caught successful the slips successful the aforesaid implicit without scoring, leaving Ryan Rickelton (25 not out) and Tony de Zorzi, who did not look a ball, to implicit the job.

It was the 11th triumph successful 12 Tests for South Africa, with the lone blemish their 93-run nonaccomplishment to Pakistan successful past week’s archetypal lucifer of the bid successful Lahore.

“There were moments wherever guys had to enactment their hands up and basal up for the squad and they truly did that and excelled successful that. It took a batch of assurance and a batch of content from wins, but erstwhile your character’s tested and you managed to travel retired connected the close side, I deliberation that means rather a spot more,” said Markram.

Simon Harmer took 6-50 arsenic Pakistan collapsed with chap spinner Keshav Maharaj adding 2 much wickets to the 7 helium took successful the archetypal innings.

Keshav Maharaj (right) and Simon Harmer took 17 of Pakistan’s 20 wickets successful the 2nd Test [Aamir Qureshi/AFP]

Pakistan mislaid their past six wickets for 44 runs to proceed their inclination of lower-order slumps contempt starting the time with precocious hopes.

They needed a large publication from prima batsman Babar Azam, whose quality astatine the stumps passim the bid saw a abrupt spike successful spectators and a noticeable summation successful excited sound from the stands.

Babar, however, has not scored a period successful his past 15 Tests since 161 against New Zealand successful Karachi successful December 2022.

He was connected 49 overnight, sharing a 34-run concern with Mohammad Rizwan that held retired committedness of getting Pakistan backmost into the contention with six wickets successful manus and a 23-run lead.

But aft going to his 50 with a azygous disconnected the 2nd shot of the morning, the 31-year-old Babar was trapped limb earlier wicket by Harmer successful the archetypal over.

After that, the location innings came tumbling down similar a battalion of cards arsenic the 36-year-old Harmer, who has had a agelong vocation successful region cricket successful England but lone 12 trial appearances, bagged his archetypal five-wicket haul successful trial cricket.

He had Rizwan caught astatine abbreviated limb for 18 and past Noman Ali nicked down without scoring to people a 1,000th first-class wicket.

“We person a batch to enactment on,” said location skipper Shan Masood, “when it comes to little bid batting, erstwhile it comes to finishing the innings off, erstwhile it comes to the 3rd innings of batting, besides erstwhile it comes to the archetypal innings wherever we could person posted thing northbound of 400 but we didn’t.”