PRETORIA :South African fast bowler Corbin Bosch took a wicket with his first ball in test cricket and together with Dane Paterson had reduced Pakistan to 209 runs for nine at tea on the opening day of the first test at Centurion on Thursday.
Paterson took 5-61 in 16 overs and Bosch 4-63 in 15 overs on debut as South Africa held the upper hand after winning the toss and putting the tourists into bat.
The 30-year-old Bosch made a dream start as he claimed the wicket of Pakistan captain Shan Masood as he came on as second change in a fiery four-man bowling line-up that dominated the day’s proceedings
Bosch, playing on his home ground, had been drafted into the South Africa side after a raft of injuries to their regular fast bowlers and made good use of the opportunity with two wickets in the opening session and two more after lunch.
He had Masood caught at third slip by Marco Jansen with his opening delivery, becoming the 25th cricketer to take a wicket with his first ball on test debut.
It was the first wicket of the day, followed quickly by two for Paterson, who snagged Ayub for 14 and then removed Babar Azam, back in the side after being dropped during Pakistan’s last test series against England, for only four runs as pushed at a ball outside the off stump.
Bosch claimed a second wicket before lunch as Saud Shakeel gloved a ball behind with the batsman given out for 14, only after South Africa had reviewed the umpire’s initial not-out decision.
After lunch, Paterson ended a promising fightback as Pakistan put on 81 runs for the fifth wicket, dismissing Kamran Ghulam for 54 off 71 balls. Ghulam came down the wicket to the bowler, was cramped up by a short ball and top edged high into the sky to be caught by Rabada.
Mohammad Rizwan (27) followed soon after as he edged to Aiden Markram at second slip as Paterson snagged a fourth wicket.
Pakistan then lost three wickets without scoring as Aamer Jamal was bowled by Bosch, playing onto a fuller delivery, followed by Salman Agha, caught off Paterson’s short delivery, and Bosch then removing Naseem Shah without scoring.
With nine wickets down, the second session was extended by 30 minutes but South Africa failed to claim the last wicket with Khurram Shahzad (9) and Mohammad Abbas (10) defying the bowlers with an unbeaten 20-run stand for the 10th wicket.
(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Pritha Sarkar)
