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Pakistan have recorded a comprehensive 7-wicket victory over South Africa in the first Test of the two-match series at the National Stadium in Karachi.
Chasing 88 runs on Day 4 was like a cakewalk for the home side and precisely that happened as well. The Babar Azam-led team completed the target in 22.5 overs with eight wickets in hand. Azhar Ali and Fawad Alam remained unbeaten at the scores of 31 and 4 respectively. Skipper Azam scored 30 off 44 before Keshav Maharaj trapped him lbw.
Earlier, on the fourth day, the visitors resumed at their overnight score of 187/4. But, on the very first delivery, Hasan Ali provided the breakthrough by cleaning up Maharaj (2). Five runs later, Yasir Shah removed Proteas skipper Quinton de Kock (2) to reduce the tourists on 192/6.
Temba Bavuma (40) and George Linde (11) did show some fight and went on to add 42 runs for the seventh wicket before Nauman Ali broke the partnership and dismissed Linde in the 93rd over.
Nauman then ran through South Africa’s tail in their second innings as the visiting side were bundled out for 245. The left-arm spinner picked his first five-wicket haul in the red-ball format. Apart from Nauman, Yasir Shah claimed four wickets in the second essay.
Here is how Twitter reacted:
Congratulations Team Pakistan 🇵🇰 on winning the 1st test #PAKvsSA Fawad Alam,Noman Ali & yasir shah r stars of this winning effort. Enjoy & stay focused for the next challenge. Best wishes ♥️ pic.twitter.com/QVbyEEuTCX
— Mohammad Hafeez (@MHafeez22) January 29, 2021
Much needed win for Pakistan! Of course the conditions suited us yet the team fought hard from difficult situations. Well bowled Nauman Ali, great debut. All the best to team Pakistan for the second Test
— Shahid Afridi (@SAfridiOfficial) January 29, 2021
Congratulations @TheRealPCB on wonderful victory 👏👏
Thumbs up for all three departments
Especially @iamfawadalam25, @Shah64Y, @AzharAli_ and Nauman Ali for their great contributions 👍#PAKvSA— Ahmad Shahzad 🇵🇰 (@iamAhmadshahzad) January 29, 2021
Congratulations Pakistan for the win in the first Test against SA, credit to the performers especially Fawad Alam, Nauman Ali and Yasir Shah. They showed the value of experience, perseverance and patience in the toughest format of the sport #cricket #PakvSA pic.twitter.com/rtI1b5agd6
— Saeed Ajmal (@REALsaeedajmal) January 29, 2021
Congratulations @TheRealPCB on wonderful victory 👏👏
Thumbs up for all three departments
Especially @iamfawadalam25, @Shah64Y, @AzharAli_ and Nauman Ali for their great contributions 👍#PAKvSA— Ahmad Shahzad 🇵🇰 (@iamAhmadshahzad) January 29, 2021
Well done the @TheRealPCB Great test match win #PAKvSA Congratulations on a brilliant team performance especially @iamfawadalam25 and @#naumanali
— Russel Arnold (@RusselArnold69) January 29, 2021
After winning the Karachi Test, Pakistan swap places with South Africa and move to the fifth position in the ICC World Test Championship standings.#WTC21 pic.twitter.com/O4g0G7mzvY
— ICC (@ICC) January 29, 2021
Only Test batsmen with more runs and a higher average than Babar Azam since start of 2019: Kane Williamson, and Marnus Labuschagne. #PAKvSA
— The CricViz Analyst (@cricvizanalyst) January 29, 2021
Pakistan's Test record at the National Stadium Karachi:
Played 43
Won 23
Drawn 18
Lost 2#Cricket #PAKvSA— Saj Sadiq (@SajSadiqCricket) January 29, 2021
Congratulation team Pakistan ❣️#PAKvSA pic.twitter.com/ZHV54unpLr
— SaRdAr ReHaN 🇵🇰 (@Aries_0831) January 29, 2021
Heroes Of the Match #PAKvSA
😍😍 pic.twitter.com/8npdRZuzDM— Faizan Khan Official 🇵🇰 (@faizanKitweets) January 29, 2021
Great innings + the winning runs by Fawad Alam – well done. Congratulations Pakistan – 👏🏻 #PAKvSA #SAvsPAK
— Rana Sufyan (@RealSufii) January 29, 2021
Lowest Test Avg for South Africa in Asia:-
(min. 300 runs)20.0: de Kock
22.2: du Plessis
25.7: Boje
25.7: Pollock
27.1: Prince#PAKvSA #PAKvSA— Dibyajyoti Das (@DebuDas200) January 29, 2021
We have won & fittingly Fawad Alam scores the winning runs!
A memorable victory at home. 🇵🇰 batted well, bowled well and they grabbed some brilliant catches as well.
Jeet Mubarak #Sherus 💚🙌#PAKvSA #UnitedWeWin pic.twitter.com/KEeeTsv8ND
— Islamabad United (@IsbUnited) January 29, 2021
That's it. Victory for Pakistan. This is Pakistan's 5th win against South Africa in 27 Tests, only 2nd at home in 8. Babar Azam begins Test captaincy run with a win. #PAKvSA #Cricket
— Faizan Lakhani (@faizanlakhani) January 29, 2021
Pakistan were superior in terms of spinners, Nauman and Yasir get 14 wickets… South African spinners got four , all by Maharaj
— Shahid Hashmi (@hashmi_shahid) January 29, 2021
Dream debut for 34-year-old Nauman Ali – 2 wickets in first innings and 5 wickets in second innings – he waited for many many years to get the cap and what a start to his career. #PAKvSA pic.twitter.com/8CrZGMXiZ0
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) January 29, 2021
'Outstanding performance of the match' award to Nauman Ali
FOLLOW #PAKvsSA LIVE:
👉 https://t.co/tyzrkDTtui 👈 #PAKvSA pic.twitter.com/viTvgvesnT— 🏏Flashscore Cricket Commentators (@FlashCric) January 29, 2021
Pakistan takes 1-0 lead in the two-match series. #PAKvSA #1stTest pic.twitter.com/HHrobqBM0d
— CricketTimes.com (@CricketTimesHQ) January 29, 2021
A happy camp! 🤜🤛#PAKvSA | #HarHaalMainCricket | #BackTheBoysInGreen pic.twitter.com/K0bjoibfEg
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) January 29, 2021
Nauman Ali (34 yrs, 114 days) is the oldest to take 5 wickets in an innings on Test debut since Fen Creswell (34 yrs, 146 days) NZ v Eng at The Oval in 1949.
— Andrew Samson (@AWSStats) January 29, 2021
Fitting for Fawad Alam to hit the winning runs.
An impressive win by fighting back after nearly relinquishing the initiative.
SA twice gave away good positions.#PAKvSA #lookingforwardtogame2— Mpumelelo Mbangwa (@mmbangwa) January 29, 2021
Congratulations Pakistan upon winning the Karachi test. Well played @iamfawadalam25 , Nauman Ali, @Shah64Y. Great team work. #PAKvSA
— Faisal Javed Khan (@FaisalJavedKhan) January 29, 2021
