South Africa have qualified for the World Test Championship (WTC) final after beating Pakistan by two wickets in a high-drama encounter at SuperSport Park.
Set a modest but challenging target of 148 to win, they were 99 for 8 just before lunch and it was left to Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen to score the remaining 51 runs in a tense ninth-wicket stand against a Pakistan attack with their tails up.
Mohammad Abbas, on a comeback from a three-year absence from the Test side, bowled a marathon 19.3 overs spell from the Hennops River End and took a career best 6 for 54 but could not end Pakistan’s lean run in South Africa.
This is the eighth successive Test they have lost in the country, dating back to 2007.
Pakistan gave themselves every chance by running through South Africa’s middle order on a morning of mayhem, where South Africa lost 5 for 37, including four wickets for three runs in 12 balls, which put the onus on the bowlers to finish the job.
Jansen and Rabada are both capable with the bat but with the pressure turned up fully, every ball was an event, from the second one Rabada faced, that he hit up and over point for four, to the final one, steered delicately by Jansen through point to secure the winning runs.
Those strokes are also screenshots of the way the pair approached the chase: Rabada backed himself to play his strokes while Jansen was more conservative and happy to wait for scoring opportunities.
Between them, they offered only once chance, when Rabada, on 12, fished outside off and edged but the chance fell short of Mohammad Rizwan.
That came post-lunch, the break South Africa went into needing 32 to win.
By the time Abbas found Rabada’s edge, they needed 28. Rabada went on to score five boundaries in his 31, the third-highest score by a batter at No.10 or lower in a successful chase.
A normally nervous character, Jansen, who spoke about his game plan on the third evening, was solid in defence and then struck two of the sweetest fours of his career, first when he got on top of the bounce from Abbas and then to seal a famous win.
While Rabada and Jansen held their arms up in celebration on the field, South Africa’s captain Temba Bavuma and coach Shukri Conrad embraced in the changeroom.
The pair came together at the end of the last WTC cycle to lead South Africa through this one. Mission accomplished. (ESPNcricinfo)
