SA vs PAK 2024/25, South Africa vs Pakistan 1st Test, Day 1, Centurion Match Report, December 26-30, 2024

Lunch Pakistan 88 for 4 (Ghulam 23*, Rizwan 10*, Bosch 2-24, Paterson 2-35) vs South Africa

The story of the opening session changed when Temba Bavuma played the ball to debutant Bosch. He started with a looser well outside the off-stump. Masood, who had to contend with an unhittable fourth stump in the first hour, was bright-eyed as he batted at it and delivered a thick outside edge to Jansen at third slip to give Bosch a first-ball wicket.

Suddenly the good balls that kept missing edges started finding her. Paterson shot a ball to Ayub, who was unusually defensive and had laboriously collected 14 from 34 balls up to that point. It touched the outside edge and both openers were back in the pavilion. Paterson wasn’t done yet as Babar Azam, returning to the side, also had a shot well outside off stump, the hesitation of his strike revealing his lack of confidence; There was food and drink for the panties again.

With the Pakistan defense in disarray, Saud Shakeel went to the other extreme and tried to win every ball, but it only took six balls for this strategy to go awry. He hit a hook all the way to the goalkeeper, but South Africa failed to send him on his way. Kamran Ghulam and Mohammad Rizwan now had to try and salvage the session, a burgeoning unbroken stand of 32 runs the only consolation Pakistan will take to lunch.

It will be all the more frustrating for Pakistan after a great first hour of South African bowling went unrewarded. With Rabada and Jansen leading the way, it was clear why Bavuma had chosen to field Pakistan, but somehow they had found a way to beat the two leading bowlers.

That they had done this felt significant at the time. However, the next half hour showed what a false dawn it was.