South Africa in control of 1st test against Pakistan after Dale Steyn takes 6-8

By Tristan Holme

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — Pakistan was dismissed for only 49 after a ferocious display of fast bowling by Dale Steyn who turned in the remarkable figures of 6-8 for South Africa on day two of the first test at the Wanderers on Saturday.

Steyn’s efforts gave South Africa a 204-run lead from the first innings but, with the match in just its fifth session, Proteas captain Graeme Smith declined to enforce the follow-on.

Smith, on 41, and fellow opener Alviro Petersen, on 27, took South Africa to 73 without loss by tea, giving the Proteas an overall lead of 277.

Steyn’s figures represented the third cheapest six-wicket haul in the history of the five-day game, and only Jermaine Lawson of the West Indies, who took 6-3 against Bangladesh in 2002, has claimed a cheaper six-wicket haul than Steyn in the last 89 years.

Having claimed the first three Pakistan wickets in his first two overs of the day, Steyn returned after lunch to claim the last three without conceding a further run.

Pakistan had appeared to present a challenge to the world’s best test side on Friday as South Africa was bowled out for 253. However, Pakistan crumbled from 6-0 to 40-7 by lunch.

Steyn had Pakistan opener Mohammad Hafeez (6) caught behind in the second over of the day, then dismissed both Nasir Jamshed (2) and Younis Khan (0) in the fourth.

Misbah-ul-Haq (12) and Azhar Ali (13) dug in for Pakistan and saw out 13 testing overs before Kallis produced a brutal bouncer which caught Ali’s glove on its way through to wicketkeeper AB de Villiers.

That opened the floodgates, and Kallis found the edge of Misbah’s bat in his next over, but needed a review after the batsman was initially given not out by umpire Billy Bowden.

Vernon Philander took over from there, having Asad Shafiq (1) and Umar Gul (0) caught by the wicketkeeper and first slip respectively.

Sarfraz Ahmed (2) and Saeed Ajmal (1) were unbeaten at the lunch break but Steyn had them both caught behind by De Villiers in his first two overs after the interval.

The top-ranked bowler in the world then added a sixth wicket in his next over, as Rahat Ali’s dismissal without scoring ended the innings.

09:14ET 02-02-13