3rd Test, Day 1: South Africa on top as de Villiers nears ton

Live score and live commentary on the Day 1 of the 3rd Test between Pakistan and South Africa.

Zeenews Sports Bureau

SCORECARD» I HIGHLIGHTS» ==================================================================================== Brief Summary Even before a single ball was bowled, Pakistan suffered a major blow as two of their fast bowlers were unavailable for the 2nd Test. While Umar Gul couldn’t play because of a soar throat, Junaid Khan is still recovering from the injury. But Rahat Ali and Ehsan Adil lived up to the expectations of their skipper as they removed Smith (5) and Peterson (10) early in the innings. Since then Pakistan had a tough time as the Proteas stitched three crucial partnerships. Hashim Amla missed a ton (92) while de Villiers (98*) looks all set for his 16th Test ton. De Villiers, Philander add to Pakistan’s woes When Peterson was run-out at the score of 248, Pakistan would have thought they are back in the game, But Philander’s resilience at the crease frustrated them as he has so far added unbeaten 86 runs with de Villiers. ==================================================================================== Petersen run-out; SA 249/6 A direct hit by Mohammad Irfan from wide mid-on ended Robin Peterson’s 28-run innings. De Villiers, who hit the ball off Rahat Ali to the mid-on region, never wanted the run but Peterson did not listen to the call and went for the run. He was halfway down. And when he turned back, Irfan had hit the stumps directly. South Africa were 249/6 after 63 overs with de Villiers going well on an unbeaten 61. ==================================================================================== AB de Villiers hits fifty; SA 236/5 South Africa’s ODI captain AB de Villiers scored a patient fifty off 111 balls with 8 fours. This was his 33rd Test fifty in which he got runs all around the park. De Villiers (53*), in company with Robin Petersen (23*), was trying to stabilize the innings so that they can put up a decent total on the board. After 60 overs, South Africans were 236/5. ==================================================================================== South Africa 201/5 at tea South Africa lost 3 wickets during the post lunch session to go to tea at 201/5 after 51 overs. Rahat Ali got two wickets while Eshan Adil took one. The biggest wicket to fall was Hashim Amla who got out just 8 runs short of his century. ==================================================================================== Rahat Ali gets Elgar; SA lose top 5 Left-arm pace bowler Rahat Ali struck again for Pakistan as he had Dean Elgar LBW for just 7. Though the batsman went for a review after umpire gave him out, TV reply showed that it was hitting the middle and leg stump. South Africa were 200/5 losing half of their side after 49 overs. AB de Villiers (39*) was the only specialist batsman remaining as spinner Robin Petersen joined him in the middle. ==================================================================================== Amla misses out on well-deserved ton Hashim Amla missed out on a well deserved century as Rahat Ali dismissed him for 92. Ali bowled a outside the off-stump delivery which Amla tried to hit off the backfoot through the point but got a huge outside edge which was taken by Pakistan wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed. South Africa were 192/4 after 47 overs with AB de Villiers going well on unbeaten 36. Before that South Africa lost Faf du Plessis for 29 immediately after the lunch. Debutant paceman Ehsan Adil got his wicket. ==================================================================================== South Africa 104/2 at lunch South Africa reached 104/2 at lunch on day 1 after winning the toss and elected to bat first in the 3rd Test against Pakistan at SuperSport Park, Centurion. Hashim Amla was playing on 50 while Faf du Plessis was not out on 29 when the lunch break was taken. Earlier, Pakistan started off really well picking up openers Alviro Petersen for 10 and skipper Graeme Smith for 5. Rahat Ali removed the former while debutant Eshan Adil, who had the South African captain, got his first wicket in Test cricket. ==================================================================================== Toss South Africa won the toss and elected to bat first against Pakistan in the 3rd Test. Pakistan have made three changes in their team. Imran Farhat, Ehsan Adil and Rahat Ali have been included in place of Nasir Jamshed, Umar Gul and Tanvir Ahmed. South Africa had to make a change as veteran Jacques Kallis was out with a calf injury. Bowling all-rounder Kyle Abbot, who makes his debut, will play in place of Kallis. ==================================================================================== Squads Pakistan: Mohammad Hafeez, Imran Farhat, Azhar Ali, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq*, Asad Shafiq, Sarfraz Ahmed†, Saeed Ajmal, Mohammad Irfan, Rahat Ali, Ehsan Adil South Africa: GC Smith, AN Petersen, HM Amla, F du Plessis, AB de Villiers, KJ Abbott, D Elgar, VD Philander, RJ Peterson, DW Steyn, RK Kleinveldt