Karachi: Fawad Alam scored a match-turning century for Pakistan as they beat South Africa by seven wickets in the first Test here at National Stadium.
Nauman Ali was the other hero of the opening Test as the left-arm spinner bagged five wickets on his Test debut to play an important role in bowling out the hosts for 245 runs, setting Pakistan to chase 88 runs to win.
Hasan Ali started the third day by bagging Keshav Maharaj on the very first bowl. The spirits were high and the platform was set as Yasir Shah and Nauman did their job and set their team to chase 88 runs.
Shah took skipper Quinton De Kock to dent South Africa to 192-6 followed by Nauman who removed Temba Bavuma to further destroy South Africa’s batting. The tail was completely helpless against Nauman who spun the ball to bag five wickets, becoming the fourth Pakistani spinner to achieve this feat on Test debut.
Resuming at the overnight score of 187-4, South Africa suffered pressure after losing a wicket on the very first ball of the day. Bavuma resisted a bit with his 40 runs off 93 balls but couldn’t continue for long due to wickets falling at the other end after regular intervals.
Yasir bagged three wickets while Nauman took the first five-wickets haul.Earlier, Fawad scored 109 runs to help Pakistan gain first inning’s lead of 158 runs. He bagged the maiden man-of-the-match award for this performance.
