Newlands pitch a threat to batsmen, Masood agrees

The Newlands pitch is a constant threat to batsmen as Aiden Markram discovered on the last ball of the day, but South Africa were in a commanding position at stumps after the first day of the second Test against Pakistan in Cape Town today.

If Markram, who was batting superbly in going to 78 off 96 balls, had not been bowled by the last delivery of the day – part-time dibbler Shan Masood pitching halfway down and then seeing the ball not get up at all, scuttling under the bat and into off-stump – then it would have been a perfect day for the Proteas.

Having decided to go with an all-seam attack, they won an important toss and were able to send Pakistan in to bat on a pitch that sported bands of green grass. They made the early inroads they desired, reducing the tourists to 75 for five at lunch, before dismissing them for 177, just 17 minutes after the scheduled tea break.

Their reply with the bat was emphatic, as they had reached 123 for one before Markram’s gross misfortune right at the death. The elegant right-hander had been ably assisted by Dean Elgar (20) and Hashim Amla (24*) in keeping a willing Pakistan attack at bay.

South Africa’s bowlers were just more consistent in bringing the heat, nine wickets falling to catches behind the stumps being testament to their fiery short-pitched barrage. Duanne Olivier again led the way with four for 48 in 15 overs, while Dale Steyn was not flattered by figures of three for 48 and Kagiso Rabada was his usual reliable self with two for 35.

“Things are really running for the bowling line-up, I’m pretty stoked, it’s been a good day. There was more happening with the new ball, the pitch played a bit better when the ball got older, but we summed up conditions quickly and got a few wickets with short-pitched deliveries. We’ve got the pace of KG, he’s a fantastic bowler, Vernon Philander has incredible skill and is just relentless, testing your technique all day, and Duanne is hot at the moment, I think if you gave him a beachball to bowl with he’d still nick someone off,” Steyn said.

“Hopefully we can bat big tomorrow [Friday] because we would love a day with our feet up. The pitch is usually nicer for batting here on days two and three, but it’s a pity Aiden got the ball of the day. I’m sure he’s gutted, he would have wanted to just knock off the next 22 runs to get to a hundred, but he did his job, it was a pretty good knock that lifted the changeroom, it gave us a lot of faith that we could bat well,” he added.

Masood had fought hard for more than two hours in scoring 44, he and captain Sarfraz Ahmed (56) being chiefly responsible for Pakistan making it to respectability, and he said the bowler is always in the game, even a part-timer like himself.

“I don’t consider myself a bowler at all, I just try to bowl stump-to-stump, but I have no idea what happened with that last ball, it just kept so low. It’s the story of the series, there always seems to be a ball with your number on it, but this pitch gave you more opportunity to score, although it’s a surface that always keeps the bowler in the game.

“The ball misbehaved quite a lot in the first session, which was very important and it was a good toss to win for South Africa. Batting was difficult, but it got better, it settled down as the ball lost its lacquer. You had to take the shine off and as the ball got older, it became easier to score. But you must get through that new ball first,” Masood said.

The number three batsman said the inconsistent bounce was why Pakistan’s batsmen had struggled yet again against the potent Proteas attack.

“The bounce was very variable, it would pop from a length and those are the kind of balls that get batsmen out. It was a very fresh pitch in the first session, there was a coating of grass and cracks on day one already. Babar Azam was right in trying to leave his delivery, but the ball kept low and hit his glove, while Azhar Ali’s dismissal was completely the opposite.

“The key is to really watch the ball and hope you can negate the variable bounce, but the South African attack is relentless, they keep coming at you and landing the ball on their areas. They all have their own skills, but they are a quality unit especially in home conditions. Nobody was able to go on to a big score for us,” Masood said.

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