Pakistan seal series win as South Africa crumble against new ball on day five of second Test
Pakistan fast bowler Hasan Ali takes 10 wickets in match as hosts beat South Africa by 95 runs to win Test series 2-0, Proteas lose last seven wickets for 34 runs on day five in Rawalpindi, watch first T20I between sides from 10.20am on Thursday on Sky Sports Cricket
Monday 8 February 2021 12:18, UK
Hasan Ali took a career-best 10 wickets in the match as Pakistan blitzed South Africa with the new ball to complete a 95-run victory in the second and final Test in Rawalpindi and claim the series 2-0.
Chasing a target of 370 for victory, which would have been a Test record in Pakistan, South Africa were well placed at 241-3 after lunch on the fifth day following a century from Aiden Markram (108).
But they crumbled against the new ball, losing their final seven wickets for 34 runs as Hasan (5-60) and Shaheen Afridi (4-51) ripped through the Proteas' middle and lower order.
Hasan finished with figures of 10-114 in the match for Pakistan, who won the first Test in Karachi by seven wickets.
Pakistan captain Babar Azam said: "It was outstanding from Hasan - he has awareness and took advantage of the experience of playing in Rawalpindi).
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"At one stage we thought the game could've gone either way. But we knew, one wicket and we can come back into the game again. And then we did that with the new ball."
The excellent Markram started the final day with Rassie van der Dussen (48) but the latter lasted only a few balls before he was bowled by Hasan, who then trapped the experienced Faf du Plessis (5) lbw shortly afterwards.
South Africa turned the tide with a superb stand of 106 for the fourth wicket between Markram and Temba Bavuma (61) that gave the potential for an upset win.
But when Pakistan captain Babar took the new ball on exactly 80 overs, the game changed dramatically and the flat wicket came to life, with Hasan and Shaheen able to extract prodigious movement.
Markram edged Hasan to Imran Butt at second slip and the very next ball captain Quinton de Kock inexplicably flashed at a wide delivery and was caught by the same player for a duck.
It became a procession after that and the final nail in the coffin for the visitors came when Shaheen removed the patient Bavuma as he induced an edge to wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan, leaving the Proteas six down.
"We lost the big moments in the game and that cost us" De Kock said. "When we get back home, we'll have to look at our performances and improve on the way forward."
Watch the first T20 international between Pakistan and South Africa live on Sky Sports Cricket from 10.25am on Thursday.
