Bosch and Markram bat Proteas to strong position against Pakistan on day two

Kagiso Rabada of South Africa after taking a catch off Kamran Ghulam of Pakistan on day one of the first Test against Pakistan at SuperSport Park on 26 December 2024. (Photo: Christiaan Kotze / Gallo Images)

By Keanan Hemmonsbey

27 Dec 2024

Pakistan 211 and 88 for 3 (Babar 16*, Jansen 2-17) trail South Africa 301 (Markram 89, Bosch 81*, Shahzad 3-75, Naseem 3-92) by two runs.

Corbin Bosch smashed a brilliant unbeaten 81 to go with his first innings four-wicket haul to continue what is turning out to be a dream Test debut for the 30-year-old.

The Proteas were on 191 for seven when Bosch strode to the crease, still trailing Pakistan’s first innings total by 14 runs, but he went on to smash 15 fours on his way to a career-best first-class score which helped South Africa to 301 all out — a lead of 90 runs.

bosch Corbin Bosch of the Proteas celebrates his 50 on day two of the first Test against Pakistan at SuperSport Park on 27 December 2024. (Photo: Lee Warren / Gallo Images)

Bosch’s knock is the highest score on debut by a number nine batter in the history of Test cricket.

“It was special,” Aiden Markram said about Bosch’s knock. “It looks pretty easy for him at the moment, this whole Test cricket thing.

“It was great to watch, a massive momentum shift for us. It was a hugely valuable knock, probably worth more than 100.

“I’m chuffed for him, he’s come a really long way. He’s always been a really talented guy and the last few years he’s really put his head down and grafted and put in performances to get the chance.”

South Africa had a go at Pakistan’s batters in the final session of the day and had them three down for 88 runs, still in a deficit of two runs.

Earlier in the day, Aiden Markram (89 off 144) raised his bat for a 13th career half-century.

markram Aiden Markram of South Africa on day two of the first Test against Pakistan at SuperSport Park on 27 December 2024. (Photo: Lee Warren / Gallo Images)

Markram brought up his half-century with an exquisite four through cover in the third over of the day, one of 10 beautiful boundaries he had struck at that point.

The opening batter looked in vintage style throughout his stay, clubbing 15 delightfully, eye-catching boundaries in total, looking untroubled while wickets fell at the other end.

Markram fell 11 runs short of an eighth century after the impressive Khurram Shazad found his edge off a good-length delivery and was caught behind by Mohammad Rizwan.

Bosch masterclass

Other than Markram and Bosch, most of South Africa’s batters will be unhappy about their contributions to their own dismissals on a SuperSport Park pitch that was easier to bat on than day one when 13 wickets fell.

Both Temba Bavuma (31 off 74) and David Bedingham (30 off 33) gave their wickets away fiddling at deliveries outside off stump in the morning session, but South Africa were still on top after putting on 98 first-session runs.

Bavuma left deliveries close to his off stump neatly all morning as South Africa survived the first hour of the day without losing a wicket. The skipper then fished at one from seaming all-rounder Aamer Jamal on a fifth stump line which Rizwan pouched comfortably.

Bedingham, meanwhile, played his shots as he usually does, but one by Naseem Shah bounced a bit more and caught the edge of his bat as he was pouched at slip.

Kyle Verreynne (two off 13) and Marco Jansen (two off 13) were both caught in a Shah trap – who was on a roll after lunch – playing at balls they didn’t need to before Bosch came in and played the innings of his red-ball career.

Bosch plays his domestic cricket at SuperSport Park and with every boundary he struck his home crowd grew more rapturous, chanting “Boschy” to the tune of Zombie by the Cranberries.

Dane Paterson (12 off 16) played his part in a 47-run final wicket stand with Bosch before he was dismissed by the part-time spin of Saim Ayub.

Early-ish breakthroughs

Surprisingly, Bosch shared the new ball with Kagiso Rabada instead of Marco Jansen, who generally takes the new cherry.

rabada Kagiso Rabada of South Africa after taking a catch off Kamran Ghulam of Pakistan on day one of the first Test against Pakistan at SuperSport Park on 26 December 2024. (Photo: Christiaan Kotze / Gallo Images)

South Africa found little fortune initially with Pakistan reaching 49, their highest opening stand of 2024, before Rabada cleaned up Ayub (28 off 36) with a superb delivery that held its line and clipped the top of the off stump.

Jansen was the final Protea quick introduced into the attack in the 15th over. By the time he had bowled three overs, Jansen had already picked up two wickets to peg Pakistan back from a solid start of 70 for the loss of one wicket to 74 for three.

Both Shan Masood (28 off 47) and Kamran Ghulam (four off eight) were caught low at gully by Tristan Stubbs and Ryan Rickelton, respectively. Although the second catch, by Rickelton, seemed to have hit the ground before being snapped up, TV umpire Kumar Dharmasena upheld the dismissal.

South Africa still have a couple of runs to play with before Pakistan pass the deficit. A second-innings lead in excess of 200 would be a difficult chase for the Proteas on a wearing SuperSport Park wicket. DM

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South Africa

Bosch masterclass

Early-ish breakthroughs