Misbah ul Haq and Asad Shafiq's last innings fight back could not prevent an innings defeat for Pakistan as the visitors leveled the Test series

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

Pakistan innings:

Overnight not out batsmen, Misbah (42*) and Asad (28*) moved to their respective 50s without too many alarms except for a reviewed lbw decision (against Asad) which went Pakistan's way. 1st innings bowling hero for South Africa, Imran Tahir failed to trouble Pakistani batsmen who seemed to apply themselves to the task at hand much better than they had done in the previous outing. By lunch the only real talking points of the day's games were the arguably lenient fine imposed by the ICC on Faf du Plessis and the 2nd new ball which the South Africans took without hesitation - Pakistan went to the lunch room without any further loss of wickets. The real challenge for the Pakistani batsmen would come after the lunch break as South Africans were bound to come at them with all guns blazing.

Morne Morkel started off after lunch with Tahir from the other end with Pakistan looking relatively comfortable at 198/4. Asad Shafiq then proceeded to get to his 4th century (his 2nd against South Africa) much to the delight of the small contingent of die hard fans present in Dubai. But misery was to follow as Captain Misbah-ul-Haq who looked all set for another 100 gave away his precious wicket to the part time bowling of Elgar for 88. Pakistan thus went to tea precariously placed on 274/5 with Adnan Akmal and the calm reassurance of Asad Shafiq at the crease.

What followed past the tea interval could only be described as a procession of sorts as Imran Tahir picked up Adnan Akmal and then Saeed Ajmal - both lbws - in quick succession. Whilst Saeed Ajmal could be forgiven for not being ablle to bat out against a world class attack, Adnan Akmal's dismissal was a sad reflection on the status of Pakistan's batting strengths. Mohammad Irfan then tried to help Asad Shafiq attain an improbable dream - ie to take the game to the 5th day, but he was out clean bowled to Duminy after he scored his highest Test score of 14. With news that Zulfiqar Babar was unlikely to bat, Junaid Khan's arrival on the crease at this juncture was a mere formality as he wasn't expected to last too long either. In the event, it was Asad Shafiq who tried to take a risk against Duminy and was stumped on a personal best score of 130.

TV pictures then showed a slightly disconsolate Moin Khan signalling to the umpires that the game was over and there it ended with Zulfiqar Babar not coming to bat due to his hand injury.

Fall of Wickets:

5-267 (Misbah-ul-Haq, 108.4 ov), 
6-278 (Adnan Akmal, 115.4 ov), 
7-301 (Saeed Ajmal, 123.1 ov), 
8-323 (Mohammad Irfan, 131.1 ov),
9-326 (Asad Shafiq, 135.1 ov)
 

Whilst Pakistan can justifiably be pleased with their performance in the 1st Test in Abu Dhabi, the manner of capitulation in the 2nd Test is a matter of grave concern. The Khurram/Shan opening partnership which promised so much in the 1st Test failed consistently in the next 3 innings and had it not been for the hard work of Misbah and Asad in the 2nd innings, the match would have ended much sooner. For South Africa, apart from the blemish on their reputation due to the ball tampering charges, the 2nd Test was a return to normal service. Apart from the exploits of Graeme Smith and AB de Villiers as well as the Steyn/Philander combo, Imran Tahir proved to be a handful for Pakistan in the 1st innings when they were dismissed for 99 - A blow that they could not recover from for the rest of the game. 

An interesting Test series thus comes to an end and all eyes now turn to the 5 ODI And 2 T20I games scheduled to start with the 1st ODI on 30th October in Sharjah.