Rawalpindi Test
\nVisitors close day two with fifties from de Zorzi and Stubbs as they trail by 148 runs
\nRawalpindi
\nTony de Zorzi and Tristan Stubbs\u2019 fifties steadied South Africa despite Asif Afridi\u2019s late strike with the ball as the visitors concluded day two of the second and final Test in Rawalpindi at 185\/4, trailing by 148 runs, on Tuesday.
\nResuming their innings after bowling out Pakistan for 333, South Africa\u2019s openers Ryan Rickelton and captain Aiden Markram aimed to provide a solid start.
\nRuns flowed steadily, but the partnership was broken when Shaheen Afridi dismissed Rickelton for 14 off 26 balls, leaving the visitors at 22-1 in 8.2 overs.
\nMarkram took charge after Rickelton\u2019s dismissal, striking boundaries and keeping the scoreboard ticking, helping South Africa reach the 50-run mark in the 20th over.
\nHowever, Sajid Khan dismissed Markram for 32 off 62 balls, ending a 32-run stand with Tristan Stubbs.
\nTony de Zorzi then steadied the innings alongside Stubbs, adding 32 runs for the third wicket as tea approached.
\nIn the final session, the duo grew in confidence, putting Pakistan\u2019s bowlers under pressure and regularly finding the boundary.
\nBoth Stubbs and de Zorzi went on to score fifties, compiling a 100-run partnership for the third wicket, with South Africa reaching 166-2 in 57 overs.
\nPakistan found relief when Asif Afridi broke the 113-run stand by dismissing Tony de Zorzi, who scored 55 off 93 deliveries with one four and two sixes.
\nIn the 60th over, Asif struck again, removing Dewald Brevis for a four-ball duck, leaving South Africa at 171-4 in 59.3 overs.
\nThe Proteas will resume day three with Tristan Stubbs unbeaten on 68 and Kyle Verreynne on 10 at the crease.
\nBatting first, Pakistan got off to a steady start as openers Imam-ul-Haq and Abdullah Shafique put on 35 runs for the first wicket before Imam was bowled by Simon Harmer for 17 off 35 balls.
\nAbdullah Shafique continued with composure, combining aggression with patience to counter South Africa\u2019s bowling.
\nSkipper Shan Masood joined him and displayed positive intent, hitting two towering sixes as Pakistan reached 65-1 after 20 overs. The duo built a 50-run stand before lunch, maintaining momentum.
\nAfter the break, both batters guided Pakistan past 100. Masood reached his 13th Test fifty, while Shafique notched his sixth. Their 111-run partnership for the second wicket ended when Harmer dismissed Shafique for 57 off 146 balls.
\nBabar Azam contributed 16 off 22 balls before falling to Keshav Maharaj, leaving Pakistan at 167-3. Masood narrowly missed a century, scoring 87 off 176 deliveries with two fours and three sixes.
\nMohammad Rizwan and Saud Shakeel added 34 for the fifth wicket before Kagiso Rabada trapped Rizwan lbw for 19, reducing Pakistan to 246-5 in 84.5 overs.
\nResuming day two at 259-5, Saud Shakeel and Salman Ali Agha stabilised the innings, adding 70 for the sixth wicket.
\nShakeel brought up his ninth Test fifty, while Agha contributed 45 off 76 balls with five boundaries before being dismissed by Maharaj.
\nMaharaj then struck again, removing Shakeel for a well-crafted 66 off 147 balls.
\nHe continued his dominance by dismissing Shaheen Afridi for a duck to complete his five-wicket haul, and later accounted for Sajid Khan (5) and debutant Asif Afridi, as Pakistan were bowled out for 333 in 113.4 overs.
\nKeshav Maharaj finished with brilliant figures of 7\/102 in 42.4 overs, Simon Harmer claimed two wickets, and Kagiso Rabada picked up one.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Rawalpindi Test Visitors close day two with fifties from de Zorzi and Stubbs as they trail by 148 runs Rawalpindi Tony de Zorzi and Tristan Stubbs\u2019 fifties steadied South Africa despite Asif Afridi\u2019s late strike with the ball as the visitors concluded day two of the second and final Test in Rawalpindi at 185\/4, trailing …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":88490,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-88504","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88504","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88504"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88504\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":88515,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88504\/revisions\/88515"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/88490"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88504"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88504"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}