South Africa became the first team to secure a spot in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final for the 2023-25 cycle after defeating Pakistan by two wickets in the first Test at Centurion on Sunday.
In a thrilling Test match that see-sawed until the last moment, South Africa entered Day 4 needing 121 runs and was in a solid position at 96 for 4. Mohammad Abbas who made his first test appearance since 2021 claimed his career-best figures of 6/54. Abbas and Naseem Shah provided two quick wickets, bringing Pakistan back into the game.
In the 32 over Abbas picked the edge of David Bedingham and Mohammad Rizwan completed the job from behind by grabbing an outstanding low catch, After collapsing to 99 for eight in a 148-run chase following a six-wicket performance by Pakistan seamer Mohammad Abbas, South Africa held their nerves with a not-out 51-run partnership for the ninth wicket between Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen.
South Africa took 5.3 overs to win after the break, but not before Rabada survived a slight edge off Abbas that didn’t reach Rizwan behind the stumps. Seeing that Abbas was getting close to taking a wicket, the two batsmen decided to focus on the bowlers from the other end.
Rabada was looking good as he was perfectly timing the ball and smashed Naseem Shah for a boundary over the covers. Gradually, the crowd grew more intense than ever before as South Africa was getting closer to victory.
Pakistan then used an odd approach by bringing Aamer Jamal into the attack and that fired back as Rabada clubbed him two fours before Marco Jansen wrapped things at the Centurion.
With South Africa securing a place in the final, set to take place at Lord’s from June 11-15 next year, only India and Australia are left fighting for the other spot. South Africa is the fourth team to reach the WTC final after defending champions Australia (2023), India (2021-2023), and New Zealand (2021).
The loss marked Pakistan’s seventh in 11 matches this cycle, dropping them below Bangladesh to eighth place in the WTC rankings. The last Test for both teams is scheduled to take place in Cape Town on January 3.
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Jasir Basharat is a cricket enthusiast capturing the heart of the game through insightful analysis and storytelling sharing his passion for the sport through engaging narratives. He is a business graduate from University of Kashmir.
