Aiden Markram slams 89 versus Pakistan in Boxing Day Test
South Africa have the momentum in the first Test against Pakistan, courtesy Aiden Markram's brilliant show. The home side ended the morning session of Day 2 with a deficit of just 31 runs and five wickets in hand. However, the 2nd session saw Pakistan bounce back and reduce the hosts to 213/8. Markram was the key wicket to fall. He narrowly missed out on a ton after having done the hard work. Notably, he resumed the day on 47*.
Pakistan's bowling struggles on day 2
Pakistan's bowlers, Naseem Shah and Mohammad Abbas, opened the day but failed to challenge South Africa's batters. The duo couldn't maintain consistent pressure, allowing the run rate to progress steadily. Markram capitalized on this, swiftly reaching his half-century and hitting Abbas for two boundaries. Meanwhile, Temba Bavuma remained steady against Naseem despite a thick outside edge that found a gap in the slips.
Aamer Jamal breaks Bavuma-Markram stand
After a South African dominance, Aamer Jamal gave Pakistan a much-needed breakthrough. He got rid of Bavuma by landing the ball on a length, resulting in an edge through to the wicketkeeper. This ended Bavuma's steady innings and broke his partnership with Markram. However, unlike Pakistan in their first innings, South Africa didn't lose wickets in quick succession after this dismissal.
Pakistan reduce SA to 213/8
After Bavuma's dismissal, David Bedingham walked in and maintained South Africa's momentum. His confident batting and successful lbw review appeared to have pumped him up against Naseem. However, his aggressive approach proved to be his undoing when the latter got him to edge it to first slip where Kamran Ghulam made no mistake. Pakistan then got the wickets of Kyle Verreynne, Marco Jansen and Markram to gain some control.
Markram gets out for 89 from 144 balls
Khurram Shahzad dismissed Markram, who scored 89 runs from 144 balls. He hit 15 fours. Shahzad surprised the batter by bowling it short down leg. Markram looked to pull and got a glove on it to find an edge.
13th Test fifty for Markram
In 44 Tests (79 innings), Markram now owns 2,789 runs at 35.75. This was his 13th fifty in Tests (100s: 7). As per ESPNcricinfo, he went past 400 fours in Test cricket (402). In six matches versus Pakistan, he owns 517 runs at 51.70. This was his 4th fifty vs Pakistan (100s: 1).
