Incredible Rizwan puts Pakistan firmly in control of second Test at lunch

Pakistan enjoyed a great first session on day four on the back of an unbeaten 73-run knock off 153 deliveries from the fast-rising wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Rizwan who guided his side to a lead of 288 runs.

The session yielded 88 runs in 34 overs with two wickets as the lead rose on an increasingly deteriorating pitch at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi.

Pakistan’s batting had faltered on day three as the Men in Green looked to be in trouble with a scoreline of 129 runs for the loss of six wickets and a lead of 200 runs and were pinning their hopes on Rizwan to guide their side to a substantial total on day four.

South Africa started the day in need of quick wickets and spinner Keshav Maharaj quickly made his mark, picking up the wicket of tailender Hasan Ali early, who was adjudged LBW after failing to connect a sweep shot, after the player had scored just 5 runs off 18 balls.

Maharaj was on the attack and quickly forced an edge from tailender Yasir Shah that was spilled by wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock, much to the dismay of the South African side. Shah had only scored 10 runs until then and Pakistan were still in a tricky situation with a score of 155 for the loss of seven wickets with a lead of 226.

Shah added 13 valuable runs to his tally before finally being removed by all-rounder George Linde, caught this time by Quinton de Kock behind the stumps. The 53-run partnership off 106 deliveries between Rizwan and Shah however helped Pakistan stablilise the innings and push for a massive total.

Nauman Ali, who has become a reliable tailender — much in the same vein as pacer Mohammad Abbas before his exclusion from the Pakistan squad — joined Rizwan for an unbeaten 21-run partnership off 67 deliveries as the teams headed for lunch.

Nauman remained unbeaten after scoring 10 runs off 37 deliveries causing further frustration for the Proteas side as Pakistan ended the first session with a score of 217 runs with the loss of eight wickets.

Keshav Maharaj and George Linde picked up a wicket each for South Africa but the dropped chance by skipper Quinton de Kock and the valuable runs added because if it, in the first session, by Yasir Shah could hurt the Proteas’ chances of coming away with a victory in the second Test against Pakistan.