South Africa beat Pakistan in tense finish to enter Test championship final
Al Jazeera
South Africa seal their place in World Test Championship final with a two-wicket win.
South Africa tailenders Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen have hung in against relentless fast bowler Mohammad Abbas for a tense two-wicket win in the first Test in Centurion to seal the Proteas’ place in next year’s World Test Championship (WTC) final.
Jansen (16 not out) overshadowed Abbas’s brilliant figures of 6-54 on Sunday with a square driven boundary against the fast bowler as South Africa reached 150-8 just after lunch on Day 4 and escaped with a close win in the opener of the two-match series.
“Quite an emotional moment for me, good advert for Test cricket,” said South Africa captain Temba Bavuma, who made 40.
“We haven’t been ruthless but have found a way to ensure the result was on our side. Lot of joy and happiness on our side, a bit of a roller-coaster, glad that we were able to get the result.”
Abbas, making a comeback after more than three years in the Test wilderness, had knocked back South Africa’s tricky chase of 148 runs in a marathon 13-over spell before lunch as the home team limped to 99-8, losing four wickets for three runs.
