If nothing extraordinary happened, South Africa’s victory seemed almost certain after the first innings. Though Pakistan showed some resistance with the bat in the second innings, it only prolonged the inevitable. South Africa secured a massive 10-wicket win.
In response to South Africa’s 615 runs in the first innings, Pakistan collapsed for just 194 runs and were forced to follow on. They made a strong comeback in the second innings, scoring 478 runs. This set South Africa a target of only 58 runs to win.
South Africa chased the target in just 7.1 overs without losing a wicket. David Bedingham scored an unbeaten 47 off 30 balls, while Aiden Markram remained not out with 14 runs off 13 balls. With this victory, Pakistan faced a whitewash in the two-match Test series.
Starting the fourth day at 213/1, Pakistan’s captain Shan Masood resumed his innings on 102. In the 10th over of the day, Khurram Shehzad (18) was dismissed. Kamran Ghulam got settled but failed to convert his start and was out for 28.
Later, Shan Masood partnered with Saud Shakeel to add valuable runs to the scoreboard. However, he fell soon after the second new ball was taken. Kagiso Rabada broke the 51-run partnership by dismissing Shakeel, and Masood’s innings of 145 off 251 balls came to an end when he was trapped LBW by Simon Harmer.
Mohammad Rizwan and Salman Ali Agha tried to steady the innings with an 88-run partnership. But Keshav Maharaj ended the stand by dismissing Rizwan for 41. Salman managed to score 48 before falling as well.
Aamer Jamal attempted a counterattack, scoring 34, but Maharaj stopped him too. Rabada wrapped up Pakistan’s innings by dismissing Mir Hamza as the last batter. Saim Ayub, who was injured on the first day, did not bat in this innings either.
For South Africa, Rabada and Maharaj took three wickets each, while Marco Jansen grabbed two. This marked South Africa’s third consecutive series whitewash of Pakistan on home soil. Remarkably, Pakistan has not won a Test in South Africa since 2007.
