South Africa take complete control of the Test match but "ball tampering" controversy threatens to undermine their success

By PakPassion Staff (25th October, 2013)

Day 3: Pakistan are 132/4 and trail by 286 runs

Teams

South Africa: Smith, Petersen, Elgar, Kallis, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, F du Plessis, R Tahir, Philander, M Morkel, Steyn

Pakistan: Shan Masood, Khurram Manzoor, Azhar Ali, Younis Khan, Misbah, Shafiq, Adnan, Ajmal, Zulfiqar Babar, Junaid, Irfan


South Africa Innings:

After the horror show of the previous day, things could surely only get better for Pakistan, and so it proved in an eventful morning where Saeed Ajmal sparked a collapse to ensure South Africa were bowled out for a total far lower than many expected overnight. Mohammad Irfan got the ball rolling by inducing an edge from AB de Villiers and this time Adnan Akmal made no mistake. He erred a couple of overs later though, dropping a regulation chance when Graeme Smith tried to cut Irfan.

This time though, the drop didn’t prove costly. Saeed Ajmal ended Smith’s magnificent innings by finding the edge from around the wicket and Younis Khan took the catch at slip. Irfan then bowled Duminy with a cracker that seamed between bat and pad to hit the top of off stump. However, the tall left armer was then removed from the bowling attack by the umpire after he ran on the danger zone again despite having had a couple of warnings.

It wasn’t to be a big loss though, as Ajmal quickly took the remaining three wickets to end the South African innings. First, he bowled Philander through the gate, and then took his fifth when Morkel edged another to Younis at slip. The innings ended when tried to slog him over mid-wicket and only succeeded in finding Misbah-Ul-Haq. Ajmal finished with six wickets and Pakistan had a couple of overs to face before lunch.


Fall Of Wickets

5-472 (de Villiers, 138.4 ov),
6-478 (Smith, 141.2 ov),
7-486 (Duminy, 146.6 ov),
8-505 (Philander, 155.6 ov),
9-515 (Morkel, 161.2 ov),
10-517 (Imran Tahir, 163.1 ov)


Pakistan Innings

Those two overs proved a step too far for Pakistan’s openers as both were dismissed before the lunch interval. Shan Masood was surprised by a Dale Steyn inswinger which thudded into his pad in front of the stumps, and he wasted a review on his way back to the pavilion. Philander then found Khurram Manzoor’s edge and the catch was well taken by Kallis in the slips. Manzoor had followed up his century in Abu Dhabi with scores of 4, 0 and 0.

Younis Khan and Azhar Ali stood firm in the face of some aggressive bowling from South Africa after lunch. The pair put on 46 runs, surprisingly one of the highest partnerships of the match. Imran Tahir, the destroyer from the first innings, was also played with ease before Graeme Smith turned to the part time spin of JP Duminy. His first ball spun sharply and kept low, hit Azhar Ali’s pad and the umpire sent him on his way. Younis had a let-off before tea as Duminy found his edge but Kallis dropped a sharp chance to his left. Pakistan went into tea on 56/3 with the experienced pair of Younis and Misbah at the crease.

Controversy struck shortly after the interval as the umpires deemed that the South Africans had changed the condition of the ball. Five penalty runs were awarded to Pakistan and the ball was changed. The cameras showed Faf du Plessis shining the ball against his trouser zip – rather surprising considering the gap between the two sides in this match at this point.

A couple of overs later, a slightly irresponsible shot from Younis Khan led to his downfall. He charged down to Tahir and looked to slog him over mid-wicket, but the googly went between bat and pad to hit the stumps. Misbah and Shafiq came together and batted very sensibly to nullify the South African attack till the close. They put on 62 runs and showed some fight in a seemingly hopeless situation. Pakistan finished the day on 132/4, still 286 runs behind.

Fall Of Wickets

1-0 (Shan Masood, 0.4 ov),
2-2 (Khurram Manzoor, 1.5 ov),
3-48 (Azhar Ali, 25.1 ov),
4-70 (Younis Khan, 33.2 ov)


 

Whilst Saeed Ajmal could be forgiven for being happy for taking 6 wickets against one of the world's top Test side, it is a fact that the day turned out to be a pretty miserable day as far as Pakistan is concerned. The top order faced by a mammoth deficit of 418 seemed to go into total panic mode as they walked in to bat for the 2nd time. With 4 wickets gone and 286 runs needed to make South Africa bat again, the writing is pretty much on the wall. South Africa will undoubtedly rest easy as they contemplate a drawn series here but what should keep them awake tonight are the clear but disturbing TV images showing their players indulging in clear acts of cheating. The ICC would be well advised to step in here and make their presence know or this Test match will be remembered more for Faf's zipper than Smith's double hundred.

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