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Twitter Reactions: Babar Azam, Shan Masood lead Pakistan’s revival after lacklustre first innings performance

January 6, 2025 / 2 days ago
Twitter Reactions: Babar Azam, Shan Masood lead Pakistan's revival after lacklustre first innings performance

Twitter Reactions- Babar Azam, Shan Masood lead Pakistan’s revival after lacklustre first innings performance (Photo by RODGER BOSCH/AFP via Getty Images)

Resuming Day 3 trailing by a mammoth 551 runs with three batters already in the shed, Pakistan had their work cut out. Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan started off cautiously by playing out two maidens, respectively. A rather sedate Rizwan seemed to have turned up the ante by stroking Marco Jansen for a four and a six off successive deliveries.

Back-to-back boundaries off Kagiso Rabada brought up a second consecutive Test fifty for Babar. Babar ended up nicking one behind four overs after reaching the milestone, granting a euphoric Kwena Maphaka his maiden Test wicket. Rizwan was joined by Salman Agha who looked good. The Pakistan innings was going at a decent tempo before Rizwan, who was on 46, went for a wild hack on the on-side, only to inside-edge the ball onto the stumps.

An absolute ripper of a delivery by Keshav Maharaj saw Agha getting beaten past the outside edge of the bat, leaving Pakistan six-down. Despite the first hour belonging to Pakistan, South Africa dominated the session. With Saim Ayub ruled out due to an ankle injury he sustained, it was pretty much 11 versus 10.

A quick bumper from Kagiso Rabada ended Aamer Jamal’s stay at the crease. 15 was scored off Rabada’s 15th over. However, Pakistan’s innings did not last long. Maharaj and Maphaka wrapped up the innings and the follow-on was rightfully enforced.

The first five overs brought about five boundaries as Pakistan seemed quite confident in their strokeplay. The demons in the pitch seemed to have retreated as Aiden Markram was brought upon as early as the 17th over. The only comfort the hosts clung to was the fact that they were still leading by 341 runs when Tea was called.

Pakistani skipper, Shan Masood, brought up his 11th Test half-century and the team 100 with a firm pull through midwicket. Six overs later, Babar registered his second fifty of the day. The two continued batting together flawlessly as nothing seemed to be working for the Proteas.

A delivery after the two batters brought up a 200-run stand for the opening wicket, Masood brought up a stunning ton by flicking Jansen to the midwicket fence. It was a truly defiant knock and was deservedly applauded by all the spectators at the venue. South Africa finally got the breakthrough they were looking for since the start of the innings with Babar miscuing a cover-drive to gully. Pakistan ended the day on 213 without any further blows to the scoreboard.

Check out how X reacted to Day 3 of the second Test between SA and PAK: 

Captain’s knock from Shan! This is truly a special hundred. When the team was on the verge of an innings defeat, he, alongside Babar, turned things around for Pakistan. The threat isn’t over yet, but this partnership has given the team a slight glimmer of hope.#SAvsPAK

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