Pakistan v South Africa, 2012-13

	A Dale Steyn-special ends Misbah-ul-Haq's resistance © AFP Enlarge
Related Links Tour and tournament reports : South Africa v Pakistan, 2012-13 Matches: South Africa v Pakistan at Johannesburg Series/Tournaments: Pakistan tour of South Africa Teams: Pakistan | South Africa

At Johannesburg, February 1-4, 2013. South Africa won by 211 runs. Toss: South Africa.
Test debuts: Nasir Jamshed, Rahat Ali.

Readers in years to come may wonder how Pakistan could possibly have been dismissed for 49 in an age of video analysis and ultra-professionalism. The unexpected answer is that they fought their backsides off on the second morning during a session of fast bowling so intense and unrelenting that it was hard to imagine it had ever been surpassed. It says much about Steyn's quality that Morkel produced one of his most accurate and probing spells for South Africa, yet finished wicketless.

Steyn claimed the first three with his trademark late awayswing at extreme pace. The uncharitable, unforgiving and possibly inexperienced suggested that Mohammad Hafeez and Younis Khan had played away from their bodies at wide deliveries - but they were not wide when they left the bowler's hand, and they were certainly not of a pace which afforded the batsmen much time to think. Nasir Jamshed, a left-hander playing his first Test after 33 limited-overs internationals, had no chance against one which swung from off stump and would have hit the top of leg.

Smith jumped at the chance to introduce Kallis into the attack in helpful, swinging conditions, and he swiftly accounted for Azhar Ali with a snorting bouncer worthy of a man 20 years younger; in his next over, Kallis had Misbah-ul-Haq caught behind after Hot Spot seemed to confirm the faintest of edges. It was inconceivable that Philander would miss out, and he duly located another couple of edges shortly before lunch, into which the tourists crawled at 40 for seven. Just 25 balls after the break the cull was completed by Steyn, who ended with a Victorian-era analysis of six for eight.

That Pakistan's crash to 49 all out took almost 30 overs said much about their approach. Azhar's 13 - the top score of the innings - lasted 46 balls, every one of them an individual battle, while Misbah's 12 occupied 45. They certainly did not give it away. Still, it followed South Africa's demolition of Australia for 47 in November 2011, and New Zealand for 45 in January 2013, both at Cape Town. This was no fluke.

Conditions had been similar on the first day here, and there were times when it seemed South Africa, who had chosen to bat, might be dismissed for around 150. The top seven fought their hardest, with some fortune, and although Kallis's 78-ball 50 stood out for its passive aggression, twenties from openers Smith and Petersen were no less valuable - they were not separated until the 19th over, after more than an hour and a half. Supporters accustomed to high scores and centuries were unmoved by the eventual total of 253 but, in truth, it was at least 50 above par.

In fact, it turned out to be enough for a lead of 204, but Smith was never tempted to enforce the follow-on, partly because he suspected Pakistan's spirit would flatten far more quickly than the pitch. And he was right. Umar Gul was out of sorts leading a raw three man pace attack, with Junaid Khan in only his ninth Test and Rahat Ali, another leftarmer, in his first.

Smith's bullish half-century made it clear that his intention was to win quickly, not boost his own statistics. By the close of play on the second day, South Africa were already 411 ahead. Amla and de Villiers slammed the lid on the game with an unbroken fourth wicket stand of 176 which was brutal and elegant in equal measure. Both caressed at first, but de Villiers exploded on the third morning with a flurry of mouth-opening boundaries to reach his 15th Test century.

Most onlookers assumed Smith would allow Amla to reach his own hundred, and declare after lunch with a lead in excess of 500. But he surprised everyone by pulling out over an hour before the interval, with Amla untroubled on 74 and the overall advantage 479. Well, not quite everyone was surprised: "Graeme told us exactly what the plan was, and that was to win on day three," explained de Villiers. "It was just luck that I was able to get to a hundred. Neither of us even thought about it and Hash was unfazed."

Smith's three-day plan was well on course when Pakistan slipped to 82 for four ten overs before tea, but was undone by a stubborn fifth-wicket stand of 127 between Misbah and Asad Shafiq, which spanned 53 overs. They were not parted until the eighth over of the fourth morning, when the second new ball was just three overs old, and the tail was duly sent on its way. Despite ticking off a South African record fifth ten-wicket haul, Steyn refused to relinquish his end, eventually sending down an 11-over spell and finishing with match figures of 11 for 60. Five more catches for de Villiers - to go with six from the first innings - gave him a share of the Test record established here by England's Jack Russell 17 years earlier.
Man of the Match: D. W. Steyn.