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DAY 2: Gritty Stubbs defies Pakistan after Maharaj heroics

cricket21 October 2025 12:57| © MWP
By:Patrick Compton
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Tristan Stubbs kept South Africa in the game, grinding out a gritty unbeaten 68 in 184 balls to enable the Proteas to close on 185 for four wickets in 65 overs in their first innings on the second day of the second test at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.

That left South Africa trailing their opponents by 148 runs after they had dismissed Pakistan for 333 in the morning, courtesy of a superb 7/102 from left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj who returned to action with another masterful performance after recovering from a groin injury that kept him out of action in the first test.

In reply, South Africa lost both their openers, Ryan Rickelton (14) and skipper Aiden Markram (32), for 54 runs in the afternoon. Rickelton got a thin edge to a fine delivery from paceman Shaheen Shah Afridi – the ball straightening after angling in to the left-hander – while Markram, attempting to be positive against the accurate Pakistani attack, holed out to long-on in the first over of offspinner Sajid Khan. Markram struck a six and four fours in his innings.

His dismissal brought together Stubbs and the century-maker in Lahore, Tony de Zorzi. Stubbs, in particular, was under pressure having only scored 81 in his last nine test innings. Both men laid down anchor in what turned out to be a battle of attrition. Stubbs took 84 balls to reach 23 at tea while De Zorzi looked solid except for one stroke of luck when debutant left-arm spinner Asif Afridi and the rest of the Pakistan team appealed in vain for a catch at short-leg, not realising that he had trapped De Zorzi in front. They chose not to review the “catch” and therefore were not able to get a second assessment of the lbw.

Stubbs and De Zorzi’s half-century partnership came up in 130 balls in the final session and they continued to accumulate with caution although the Pakistani bowlers also found it difficult to get consistent sharp turn from the slow, low pitch. It was only just short of the mid-session drinks break that the pair briefly put their foot down, slamming 14 off an over from Khan – this after Khan had failed to cling onto a tough return catch from Stubbs who belted the ball back at him with ferocious power.

Having averted the follow-on, Stubbs and De Zorzi took their partnership to 113 in 223 balls as they continued to mix obdurate defence with the occasional big blow, before the 38-year-old debutant Afridi claimed his first test wicket, trapping De Zorzi leg before for 55 in 93 balls (1x4, 2x6s).

Dewald Brevis (0) came and went, edging a sharply turning delivery to Salman Agha at slip, to provide Afridi with his second scalp, but Kyle Verreynne (10) kept Stubbs company to the close.

Earlier, Maharaj, who bowled with superb control, variety and guile, picked up his third seven-for in tests to go with his career-best 9/129 against Sri Lanka in Colombo in 2018.

Resuming at 259 for five, the Pakistan pair of Saud Shakeel and Agha looked fragile against Kagiso Rabada and Maharaj, bowling with the second new ball that was only seven overs old. But while both bowlers applied pressure, the batters exploited every opportunity to score with Shakeel reaching his 10th test half-century in the fifth over of the morning. The pair reached their 50 partnership in 108 balls and the home team threatened to go deep into the 300s.

But, on the stroke of drinks after an hour’s play, Maharaj made a vital breakthrough when he trapped Agha leg before with his arm ball. He and Shakeel had added 70 in 127 balls for the sixth wicket, building on the foundations created by Abdullah Shafique (57) and Shan Masood (87) before them.

But the Pakistan innings was about to fold with Maharaj taking the last five wickets to fall as the hosts lost five for 17. After their catching problems on Monday, not a chance was frittered away, with Markram claiming two sharp catches at slip, including one to dismiss Shakeel for a well-played 66 (147 balls, 4x4s), while tailenders Shaheen Shah Afridi and Asif Afridi were both bowled trying to slog the left-armer.

PAKISTAN: Shan Masood (captain), Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan, Salman Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Noman Ali, Sajid Khan, Asif Afridi

SOUTH AFRICA: Aiden Markram (captain), Ryan Rickelton, Tony de Zorzi, Tristan Stubbs, Dewald Brevis, Kyle Verreynne, Marco Jansen, Simon Harmer, Keshav Maharaj, Senuran Muthusamy, Kagiso Rabada

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