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RAWALPINDI: South Africa left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj aims to derail Pakistan lower-order with early strikes on the morning of day two in the second Test here at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.
Pakistan ended the opening day’s play at 259-5 with Saud Shakeel and Salman Ali Agha at the crease.
Salman survived the day and remained not out on 10 from 25 balls whereas Saud struck three fours on his way to 42 from 105 deliveries.
While addressing the media at the end of first day, Maharaj reflected on South Africa’s fielding.
The Proteas were poor in the field, dropping three catches of Abdullah Shafique and one of Shan Masood on 71. The former went on to make crucial 57 runs, partnering with skipper Shan Masood for a 111-run stand which kept the home side afloat.
“As a collective we know how important catches are, not just in the subcontinent. No one means to drop catches; it was nice to see the guys bounce back and take the catches that they did. Bit frustrating, but no one means to drop catches at the end of the day,” he said to reporters.
Senuran Muthusamy who took 11 wickets in the Lahore Test only bowled four overs with Simon Harmer and Keshav Maharaj sharing the bulk of bowling.
“Probably more tactical,” he said off Muthusamy’s bowling. “We saw that the wicket didn’t play like Lahore, and we felt like we just wanted to try to restrict the Pakistani batters. I don’t think there was an issue. Sen came back nicely with the second spell that he bowled.”
South Africa struck late in the final session which made the opening day evenly poised, however Maharaj belived one more wicket could have put them on top.
“I felt if we got one more wicket at night we’d probably have had a little bit of an upper hand. Tomorrow’s an important day. First session’s always moving day it seems in this Test series, so hopefully we can make inroads tomorrow morning,” Keshav Maharaj added.
“I think it’s important we start really well tomorrow. Hopefully we can get Saud and Agha early in the morning and open up an end with the lower order batters. But it’s about just trying to bowl our best balls for long periods of times,” he concluded.
READ: Shafique credits ‘luck’ after laboured 57 against South Africa
