Proteas in dire straits in first Pakistan Test

THE Proteas discovered yesterday just how inhospitable the Arabian Desert can be.

First they could find no way to rid themselves of Misbah-ul-Haq. Then they lost a flurry of wickets as Pakistan took control of the first Test. Going into the fourth day SA have just 72 runs, with four wickets down, staring at a dune 121 runs high, which is what the deficit still is. Lost in the sandstorm of their second innings are Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis and Hashim Amla.

SA’s hopes of manufacturing a lead — to still make a game of what appears to be a lost cause — now rest with AB de Villiers, JP Duminy and Faf du Plessis.

Pakistan resumed yesterday on 263/3 against fast bowlers who arrived armed with more ideas than they had on Tuesday.

For all that, it took the Proteas until 20 balls after tea to dismiss Pakistan who made 89 runs for just one wicket in the first session. Four wickets fell for 77 runs between lunch and tea.

Yesterday, Vernon Philander resembled a reasonable version of the threat he poses in conditions fairer to bowlers, while Dale Steyn and Kallis strived for accuracy.

Unfortunately, SA’s spinners again struggled to build pressure. Between them, Robin Peterson and JP Duminy bowled 18 overs and conceded 61 runs for just one wicket, which was Duminy’s dismissal of Asad Shafiq.

Misbah-ul-Haq, as is his wont, spent five hours expecting things to go wrong. They never did, until Steyn sniped an inswinger into his pads to bowl him for exactly 100, eight overs before tea and two balls after his first ton in 28 innings.

Earlier, Kallis held a superb diving catch at second slip to end Khurram Manzoor’s marathon innings at 146, the highest score by a Pakistan batsman against SA, ending the fourth-wicket stand which had added 112 runs to the formidable Pakistan total.