Lunchtime report: Vernon Philander's love affair with Newlands continued as he bagged another five-for - his ninth in 15 Tests - and a quick close to the Pakistan innings seemed imminent when he took three wickets in his first three overs. Tanvir Ahmed and Saeed Ajmal, however, resisted and put on 64 runs to frustrate the home side and also lift Pakistan to their highest total in South Africa.
Philander began the day with the perfect delivery to centurion Asad Shafiq, nipping away just a touch to force a nick to the keeper. In his next over, he had the wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed edging through to the slip cordon where Alviro Petersen pulled off a blinder, diving to his right to pluck a low one-handed chance. In Philander's third over, he trapped Umar Gul lbw with a delivery that snaked in.
With the ball swerving around, regularly beating the bat and most of the runs being scored through streaky edges past the slips or the leg stump, South Africa were looking forward to an early end to the innings. Early on, there was little sign that Tanvir and Ajmal would prove so hard to dislodge. With the pitch easing up though, they began to look more and more solid. Ahmed punched Morne Morkel past long-on for four, and Ajmal smacked Dale Steyn over midwicket for a boundary.
With ten minutes to go to lunch, Jacques Kallis got yet another delivery to sneak past the outside edge, and he roared in frustration as the stand had grown to 64. His mood didn't improve when his next ball zipped past Ajmal's inside edge. The smiles were back for South Africa in the next over, though, as Ahmed launched Robin Peterson only to be caught at mid-off, and soon after debutant Mohammad Irfan, who looked like a proper No. 11, was bowled attempting a big slog.
SA 65/2 (SA trail by 273 with 8 1st innings wickets remaining)
Tea report: The Cape Town pitch was expected to make Saeed Ajmal a central figure towards the end of the Test but he made an impact as early as the second day, first with the bat in a combative 64-run ninth wicket stand with Tanvir Ahmed and then by removing both South Africa openers just as they seemed to have settled in.
SA 65/2 (SA trail by 273 with 8 1st innings wickets remaining)
Tea report: The Cape Town pitch was expected to make Saeed Ajmal a central figure towards the end of the Test but he made an impact as early as the second day, first with the bat in a combative 64-run ninth wicket stand with Tanvir Ahmed and then by removing both South Africa openers just as they seemed to have settled in.
Before Ajmal came to the middle, the headliner was Vernon Philander, whose love affair with Newlands continued as he bagged another five-for - his ninth in 15 Tests. A quick close to the Pakistan innings seemed imminent when he took three wickets in his first three overs on the second day before Tanvir and Ajmal lifted Pakistan to their highest total in South Africa.
Philander began the day with the perfect delivery to centurion Asad Shafiq, nipping away just a touch to force a nick to the keeper. In his next over, he had the wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed edging to the slip cordon where Alviro Petersen pulled off a blinder, diving to his right to pluck a low one-handed chance. In Philander's third over, he trapped Umar Gul lbw with a delivery that snaked in.
With the ball swerving around, regularly beating the bat and most of the runs being scored through streaky edges past the slips or the leg stump, South Africa were looking forward to an early end to the innings. There was little sign that Tanvir and Ajmal would prove so hard to dislodge. With the pitch easing up, though, they began to look increasingly solid. Ahmed punched Morne Morkel past long-on for four, and Ajmal smacked Dale Steyn over midwicket for a boundary.
With ten minutes to go to lunch, Jacques Kallis got yet another delivery to sneak past the outside edge, and he roared in frustration as the stand had grown to 64. His mood didn't improve when his next ball zipped past Ajmal's inside edge. The smiles were back for South Africa in the next over, though, as Ahmed launched Robin Peterson only to be caught at mid-off, and debutant Mohammad Irfan, who looked like a proper No. 11, was bowled attempting a big slog soon after.
While Tanvir did an excellent job with the bat, he was less impressive while bowling. Given the new ball ahead of the pacy seven-footer Irfan, Tanvir couldn't get it to move much and delivered at a gentle 120kph.
Gul was more probing at the other end, bowling with the wind on his back, working up a good pace. He nearly had Graeme Smith dismissed for a duck when the opener prodded towards second slip, where the usually safe Younis Khan grassed a sitter. South Africa's openers then made steady, if not flamboyant, progress on a surface where the new ball had proved potent.
Irfan was the quickest bowler in the Test, regularly hitting the 90mph-mark, and though he didn't produce any genuine chances, it wasn't easy going for the batsmen either.
Ajmal was the bowler who got the wickets for Pakistan, after being brought on as early as the 12th over. In his second over, he made the breakthrough, getting Smith lbw on review. Smith had looked to sweep and the umpire had turned down the appeal but Ajmal was extremely confident, repeatedly and emphatically telling his team-mates to review the decision. He had more success soon after as Alviro Petersen, who had seemingly got his eye in after nearly an hour-and-a-half in the middle, nicked to short leg where Azhar Ali pulled off a smart, low catch.
South Africa then sprang a surprise by promoting Faf du Plessis ahead of the prolific pair of Kallis and AB de Villiers. Du Plessis and Hashim Amla took South Africa through to tea, and will have plenty more to do in the final session as the their team finally have a battle on their hands in their home summer.
SA 139/5 (60 ovs, trail by 199 runs with 5 1st innings wickets left)
Stumps report: The Cape Town pitch was expected to make Saeed Ajmal a central figure towards the end of the Test but he made an impact as early as the second day, first with the bat in a combative 64-run ninth-wicket stand and then, far more damagingly, with a mesmerising display of spin bowling that left South Africa stuttering for the first time in their home summer.
Stumps report: The Cape Town pitch was expected to make Saeed Ajmal a central figure towards the end of the Test but he made an impact as early as the second day, first with the bat in a combative 64-run ninth-wicket stand and then, far more damagingly, with a mesmerising display of spin bowling that left South Africa stuttering for the first time in their home summer.
Though this was not a tailor-made turner for Ajmal, and it had been widely predicted to be a great day for batting, he got the ball to rear up and to fizz off the track in an unbroken 25-over spell that could well end up as his greatest performance. The mighty South African batting was nonplussed, and an hour before stumps there was even the outside chance of them being forced to follow-on. And this wasn't even one of those old South African teams who were frazzled by the sight of the turning ball, having several acknowledged masters of spin bowling.
The typical bowler may glare at the batsman after sending down an unplayable delivery or hurl a verbal volley at him, but Saeed Ajmal does neither. He flashes a wide grin at the batsman, that suggests amazement that the batsman survived and that more trickery will follow.
Though Pakistan having three specialist quick bowlers, they turned to Ajmal as early as the 12th over, he bowled unchanged from midway through the second session to stumps. Tanvir Ahmed, given the new ball, had been a disappointment, bowling only around 120kph and not troubling the batsmen much, though he put in an improved second spell.
The other two fast bowlers, Umar Gul and debutant Mohammad Irfan, were both regularly around 140kph, but the closest either of them came to a wicket was when Gul had Graeme Smith jabbing a simple catch to second slip for a duck, only for the usually reliable Younis Khan to grass the ball.
It was left to Ajmal to do the damage, and he duly delivered a masterclass of spin bowling. Just when the openers were looking settled, Ajmal struck in his second over, getting Smith lbw on the sweep. The umpire turned down the appeal but Ajmal emphatically and repeatedly asked his team-mates to go for the review, which resulted in Smith being sent on his way. He had more success soon after as Alviro Petersen nicked to short leg where Azhar Ali pulled off a smart, low catch.
His battle with Hashim Amla, the world's top-ranked batsman, was engrossing, with Amla repeatedly using the reverse-sweep and also frequently shuffling across the stumps to try counter Ajmal. Though Amla seemed to have got on top of Ajmal when he picked off a couple of leg-side boundaries in successive overs, Ajmal emerged the winner as he rapped Amla on the back foot to get him lbw, again after using the DRS.
The DRS has already been one of the most controversial innovations in cricket, diving opinion on many levels, and there was one more talking point when South Africa's most experienced batsman, Jacques Kallis, was adjudged lbw on referral. He was originally given out caught at short leg, and he immediately referred the decision, and the replays suggested there was no edge. The umpires then checked whether it was an lbw, and the predicted path said that it was just shaving legstump, and that it would stick with the "umpire's call", though the umpire hadn't ruled on whether the ball would hit the stumps. The rules state that when the mode of dismissal changes, the batsman should originally be considered to be not out, which means Kallis should have remained in the middle, but he was given out lbw after much confusion.
That Kallis wicket had South Africa in deep trouble. Soon after, Ajmal produced what was perhaps the ball of the day, as he got one to zip from round the wicket past a befuddled Faf du Plessis, who could only edge it to the slips, where Younis safely pouched it to consign South Africa to 109 for 5.
Several of South Africa's batsmen didn't help themselves by taking a guard on or outside off stump, and virtually cut off the off-side as a scoring area against Ajmal, adding to the pressure caused by the relentless probing by the spinner.
AB de Villiers and Dean Elgar had some scares but survived the final hour to take South Africa past the follow-on mark to complete one of those rare days when the home side have been outplayed.
It was all so different in the morning when Vernon Philander's love affair with Newlands continued as he bagged another five-for - his ninth in 15 Tests. A quick close to the Pakistan innings seemed imminent when he took three wickets in his first three overs on the second day before Tanvir and Ajmal lifted Pakistan to their highest total in South Africa with a 64-run partnership.
With the ball swerving around, regularly beating the bat and most of the runs being scored through streaky edges past the slips or the leg stump, South Africa were looking forward to an early end to the innings. There was little sign that Tanvir and Ajmal would prove so hard to dislodge. With the pitch easing up, though, they began to look increasingly solid. Ahmed punched Morne Morkel past long-on for four, and Ajmal raised his front foot as he smacked Dale Steyn over midwicket for a boundary, a shot he'll treasure as much as any of his wickets today.
It wasn't till just before lunch that the pair were separated, after which it was all about Ajmal and his bewitching brand of spin bowling.
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