The South African batsmen - led by Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers - have put thier side in a very strong position at the end of day 1 in the 3rd test at Centurian.

South Africa Vs Pakistan: Test 3 - Day 1: 

Toss: South Africa Won & Chose To Bat

Teams

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


Day 1

Morning Session

Misbah Ul Haq mentioned in the pre-match conference on the eve of the third test that Pakistan will look to play their best possible side at Centurion. The team management decided that this meant a number of changes were required in the side which played in Cape Town. Umar Gul, Tanvir Ahmed and Nasir Jamshed were all rested as Imran Farhat, Rahat Ali made their return to the Pakistani side whilst Ehsan Adil was handed his test debut.

South Africa were also forced to make changes due to injuries to Morne Morkel and Jaque Kallis as RK Kleinveldt returned to the side and KJ Abbott was awarded his test cap as well.

South Africa won the toss and elected to bat, and within the first ten overs of the game it seemed like the changes Pakistan had made to their side would have an immediate impact. In the fourth over Rahat Ali had seemed to put the poor showing he had in the first test behind him, as he trapped Peterson on the back foot plumb in front of the stump. Ehsan Adil then made test cricket look easy as he claimed his first scalp to remove the captain of South Africa - Grame Smith - off his third delivery courtesy of a superb diving catch at second slip by Younus Khan with the score only on 38.

However, there was no more joy for the inexperienced Pakistani bowling attack in the remaining of the first session as Faf du Plessis and Hashim Amla looked to dig in and get their team out of trouble. By the end of the session Amla had reached his half century and the score had been pushed to 104/2 as South Africa recovered from the early set backs.

Afternoon Session

The second session of the day belonged to Pakistan as they picked three key wickets whilst only giving away 96 run. The young pace bowling pair of Rahat Ali and Ehsan Adil did the damage for Pakistan as the bowlers looked to pick wickets at regular intervals. Amla mentioned in a press conference earlier in the week that an area of concern for the South Africans was the lack of centuries by the top order in this series despite batsmen getting starts. This worry still seemed to be bothering the South African side.

Faf du Plessis looked to resume from where he left off in the 1st session as he moved onto 29, however, the debutant Ehsan Adil claimed his second scalp of test cricket as he had the batsmen caught behind in the fourth over after lunch. Hashim Amla, once again, was the center stone of the South African batting as he struck 13 boundaries in his innings of 92. A century for the right handed batsmen seemed inevitable until Rahat Ali got Amla to drive loosely at a ball angling across him as he got a thick edge through to the keeper.

With ten minutes left till lunch Rahat Ali struck again to claim his third wicket, as he struck Dean Elgar on the back foot trapped in front of the stumps. The batsmen looked to review the decision, however, the replays showed that the there was no inside edge and the ball was heading straight into the wickets as South Africa went into lunch on 201/5.

Evening Session

Pakistan had limited success in the evening session as AB de Villiers continued his good form with bat. The only success Pakistan had with the old ball was when Peterson was run out thanks to a direct hit by Mohammad Irfan with the score on 248.

From there one AB and Philanders led the attack for South Africa as they scored at a brisk pace and got the score over the 300 mark without any further damage. Pakistan tried pulling every trick in the book as Misbah even introduced Azhar Ali into the attack in an attempt to break the partnership. became available. The only real hope remaining for Pakistan to dismiss South Africa for anything under 350 was the new ball which Pakistan took as soon as it became available.

However, the new ball brought more trouble with it for Pakistan as Ehsan Adil picked up and injury and had to go off the field after just bowling one delivery in his new spell. Irfan - the bowler to replace Adil - was also struggling with fitness issues due to him running into an advertisement board whilst saving a boundary as things looked bleak for Pakistan.

Philander and AB de Villiers batted out the rest of the day and put their side in the strong position of 334/6 with AB unbeaten on 98.

Fall of Wickets

Morning Session
1-13 (Petersen, 3.1 ov)
2-38 (Smith, 9.3 ov)

Afternoon Session
3-107 (du Plessis, 28.3 ov)
4-186 (Amla, 46.3 ov)
5-196 (Elgar, 48.3 ov)

Evening Session
6-248 (Peterson, 62.5 ov)

Summary

On the whole South Africa will be happy with their position at the end of the first days play in Centurian. In the first two sessions of the day things looked promising for Pakistan as they picked wickets at regular intervals, however, in the final session of the day South Africa looked to bat Pakistan out of the match thanks to a brisk knock by AB de Villiers. Pakistan will need to look to wrap up the South African innings as soon as possible on the morning of day 2 and will be hoping their batting line up can get some runs on the board without any collapses.

South Africa are in the box seat once again on 334/6.

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