Hashim Amla struck an unbeaten half-century as South Africa brushed aside some early alarms to record a six wicket victory over Pakistan on day three of the first Test at Centurion Park last week. Chasing a modest 149 to win in testing batting conditions, Amla took his side home shortly before tea on 63 not out to rediscover his form with a second half-century in his last 14 innings.
He put on 119 for the second wicket with the gritty opener Dean Elgar (50) to lay the platform for the win, though both survived early scares as Pakistan’s seamers created immense pressure on a wicket that showed both sideways movement and variable bounce. “It was a good test match and a good one to win in terms of the series,” South Africa captain Faf du Plessis said at the post-match presentation. “We needed a bit of luck on a wicket like this one. It was challenging, the first two hours was proper test cricket. “I’m really chuffed for Hashim, he looked like he was moving nicely and that is always a good sign.”
Starting their second innings chase under gloomy skies after overnight rain, South Africa opener Aiden Markram was trapped leg before wicket by Hasan Ali (1-39) for a duck before the home side had a run on the board.
Brief scores: South Africa 223 (Bavuma 53, Amir 4-62, Afridi 4-64) and 151 for 4 (Amla 63*, Elgar 50) beat Pakistan 181 (Babar 71, Olivier 6-37) and 190 (Masood 65, Imam 57, Olivier 5-59) by six wickets.
