South Africa vs Pakistan 3rd Test, Day 3: South Africa in a strong position despite Pakistan fightback
It was a good comeback by Pakistan team in the fourth innings but the hosts are still in a strong position at the end of day three at the Wanders Stadium, Johannesburg on Sunday. Thanks to Quinton de Kock's brilliant 129, South Africa set Pakistan a big target of 381 to chase in fourth innings. Pakistan finished day three at 153 for three.
Starting on the overnight score of 135 for 5, Quinton de Kock and Hashim Amla showed their class in the first session. Hashim Amla returned to form with a half-century off 115 balls while Quinton de Kock smashed to his fifty off just 49 balls.
Both of them played with positive intent and added 102 runs for the sixth wicket. Hashim Amla was dismissed by Hasan Ali for 71 runs. De Kock continued his attacking approach and put the pressure on Pakistan bowlers. Vernon Philander departed after scoring 14 runs. South Africa went into lunch at 232 for 7.
After the lunch break, de Kock continued his aggressive approach and reached his century off 121 balls. De Kock and Kagiso Rabada added 79 important runs for the 8th wicket. De Kock was dismissed by Shadab Khan for a brilliant 129 runs. South Africa were bowled out for 303 runs in their second innings, setting a target of 381 runs to win.
Pakistani openers Imam-ul-Haq and Shan Masood got the team off to flying start and went into tea at 34 for 0. Both of them continued to impress with their stroke play. Dale Steyn got the breakthrough dismissing Imam for 35 runs. Both of them added 67 runs for opening wicket.
Steyn struck again getting the other opener Shan Masood for 37 runs. Azhar Ali again struggled to score runs as he was dismissed for 15 runs. Asad Shafiq and Azhar Ali added 40 runs for the third wicket. Asad Shafiq and Babar Azam played the South African pacers well and have added 49 runs for the fourth wicket. Pakistan ended day 3 on 153 for 3 and still require 228 runs to win.
Brief scores: South Africa 262 in 77.4 overs (Aiden Markram 90, Theunis de Bruyn 49, Faheem Ashraf 3/57, Mohammad Aamir 2/36) and 303 in 80.3 overs (Quinton de Kock 129, Hashim Amla 71, Hashim Faheem Ashraf 3/42, Shadab Khan 3/41); Pakistan 185 in 49.4 overs (Sarfraz Ahmed 50, Babar Azam 49, Imam-ul-Haq 43 , Oliver 5/51, Vernon Philander 3/43) and 153 for 3 in 40 overs (Asad Shafiq 48*, Shan Masood 37, Dale Steyn 2/37). Pakistan still requires 228 runs to win.