Tristan Stubbs and Tony de Zorzi struck resilient half-centuries to lead South Africa’s fightback on Day 2 of the second Test against Pakistan in Rawalpindi.
Stubbs remained unbeaten on 61, anchoring the innings, while de Zorzi contributed a solid 55 before falling to debutant Asif Afridi. By stumps, South Africa had reached 185 for 4, trailing Pakistan by 148 runs.
Afridi impressed on debut, emerging as the standout bowler with two key wickets to his name.
Earlier, South African Spinner Maharaj dismantled Pakistan’s batting line-up with devastating spell, taking 7 wickets and bundling out the visitors for 333 runs.
On the second day of the second and final Test, Pakistan resumed their incomplete innings at 259 for 5. However, Maharaj’s sharp turners put the Pakistani batsmen under immense pressure. He finished with impressive figures of 7 for 102.
This marked the 12th time in his Test career that Maharaj has taken five or more wickets in an innings.
For Pakistan, skipper Shan Masood top-scored with a composed and skillful 87, but lacked support from the other end as wickets continued to fall.
Initially, Pakistan had reached a solid position at 316 runs, but the momentum shifted when Maharaj trapped Agha Salman lbw for 45. Salman had shared a 70-run sixth-wicket stand with Saud Shakeel.
Saud also batted responsibly, bringing up his 10th Test half-century, but was caught in the slips off Maharaj for 66. After that, the batting order collapsed, losing the last five wickets for just 17 runs.
Maharaj bowled Shaheen Shah Afridi for a duck and wrapped up the innings by dismissing Sajid Khan (5) and Asif Afridi (4).
