The 253 runs in South Africa's 1st innings were made to appear as 553 by Pakistani batsmen - their woeful technique and poor shot selection was clearly exposed in the space of 29.1 overs.

Toss: South Africa won the toss and elected to bat.

Teams:

Pakistan: Mohammad Hafeez, Nasir Jamshed, Azhar Ali, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq*, Asad Shafiq, Sarfraz Ahmed†, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Junaid Khan, Rahat Ali

South Africa: Graeme Smith*, Alviro Peterson, Hashim Amla, Jacques Kalli, AB De Villiers†, Faf du Plessis, Dean Elgar, Robin Peterson, Morne Morkel, Vernon Philander, Dale Steyn


Day 2

After an excellent start to the series, hopes were high that the Pakistani batting could match what their bowlers did yesterday, and produce a competitive display against the South Africa attack. The early signs were worrying though, as Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander were able to extract excessive movement from the Johannesburg wicket, causing several alarms to the opening pair of Nasir Jamshed and Mohammad Hafeez.

It was no surprise then when Steyn found the edge of Hafeez's bat, giving the keeper an easy catch. Jamshed followed soon after, adjudged LBW to a Steyn inswinger, and even a referral couldn't save him. Younis Khan lasted just five balls before a perfect away swinger took his outside edge and was pouched comfortably by Graeme Smith. At 12-3, things were looking ominous for Pakistan.

Misbah-Ul-Haq and Azhar Ali did all they could to reign in the South African bowlers, with Misbah taking some painful blows from Morne Morkel. The score stayed at 12-3 for over half an hour as South Africa piled on the pressure.

Steyn, Morkel and Philander may take all the headlines, but Jacques Kallis is no mug with the ball either, and he was the one the got South Africa the breakthrough. A sharp short delivery at Azhar Ali caught the batsman's glove on the way through to the keeper, and shortly afterwards Misbah was also controversially caught behind. Hot spot showed a faint spot on his bat but it was no different to du Plessis's non-dismissal the day before, and Misbah was understandably frustrated.

Asad Shafiq and Umar Gul both fell in the same Philander over to wide deliveries as the batsmen tried to attack to delay the inevitable. Ajmal fell two balls after lunch, and Sarfraz and Rahat Ali also didn't last long as Pakistan were dismissed for 49 for their lowest ever Test score. They didn't even manage to avoid the follow on target.

Fall Of Wickets

9-1 (Mohammad Hafeez, 3.5 ov),
12-2 (Nasir Jamshed, 5.1 ov),
12-3 (Younis Khan, 5.6 ov),
36-4 (Azhar Ali, 19.5 ov),
37-5 (Misbah-ul-Haq, 21.1 ov),
39-6 (Asad Shafiq, 22.1 ov),
39-7 (Umar Gul, 22.3 ov),
40-8 (Saeed Ajmal, 25.2 ov),
41-9 (Sarfraz Ahmed, 27.1 ov),
49-10 (Rahat Ali, 29.1 ov)

South African 2nd Innings

South Africa thus lead by 212. Pakistani bowlers could be forgiven to feel that they would be able to do to South Africa what Steyn had done to their batsmen. This clearly did not happen as Smith and Petersen put up a 82 run opening partnership before Umar Gul realized that he too, had ball in hand! He dismissed Petersen first and then Smith. The damage was already done at this point and only the most optimistic of Pakistani fans (or players) would be looking at these wickets with great pride. Kallis departed next becoming Saeed Ajmal's first victim of the game.

Amla (53) and AB Devilliers (63) then proceeded to add to Pakistani agony until end of day with South Africa ending the day in total control at 207/3

The only real talking point - if you can look past the Pak batting display - was the total failure of DRS (HotSpot) as De Villiers questioned an lbw decision against Ajmal - and got away with it. The 3rd Umpire was unable to see a mark on his bat but still managed to overrule the on-field umpire. A mistake or a deliberate attempt to give the benefit to the home side? The debate will continue for a while.

Summary:

The 253 runs in South Africa's 1st innings were made to appear as 553 by Pakistani batsmen - their woeful technique and poor shot selection was clearly exposed in the space of 29.1 overs. The one warm up game and the choice of playing a rookie Rahat Ali were 2 decisions that would seem to be cause of some debate amongst fans and observers. In summary, a long time to go in this Test match but realistically speaking, there is only ONE result possible. The smiles of yesterday slowly disappeared from faces of Pakistani team during the day with some frustrations on display as well. The match may go into the 4th day but its really up to Misbah and Whatmore to lift the spirits of this team and figure out a way out of this mess.

South Africa lead by 411 runs in their second innings.