Amla falls short of century

Pretoria - Hashim Amla fell eight runs short of his century as South Africa were 201 for five at tea, on the opening day of the third and final Test against Pakistan in Centurion on Friday.

Looking to drive Rahat Ali, Amla got a thick outside edge to wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed and was back in the change rooms for 92.

In his next over, Rahat struck Dean Elgar (7) on the back pad, and any hopes the batsman had of being saved by an inside edge were dashed after a review.

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Opting for a fourth seamer instead of another batsman to replace the injured Jacques Kallis, South Africa looked to be in a shaky position on 38/2.

Amla and Faf du Plessis rescued the side and the pair shared an attacking third-wicket stand of 69, off 116 balls.

Du Plessis (29) was out shortly after lunch to a delivery from debutant Ehsan Adil. The ball moved away slightly and took the thin outside edge of the bat on its way through to the keeper.

AB de Villiers joined Amla and they put on 79 runs together before Rahat was responsible for Amla’s demise.

At tea, De Villiers was on 40 and Robin Peterson on two while Rahat, in only his second Test had taken three for 57.

Pakistan’s inexperienced bowling attack struck early in the innings and removed the opening pair of Graeme Smith and Alviro Petersen in the 10th over.

Stepping up to the task, Rahat trapped Petersen in front of leg stump, to give him his first wicket in Test cricket.

Petersen had made 10 runs and South Africa were 13/1 after 15 minutes of play.

Adil grabbed Smith’s wicket with only his third ball in Test cricket.

Smith, on five, got an outside edge which ballooned closer towards first slip and Younus, standing at second, moved swiftly across his captain to snatch the catch.

Coming into the match, Pakistan’s frontline seamers boasted two matches between the three of them.

Left-armer Rahat Ali made his debut in the first Test of the series, at the Wanderers. After remaining wicketless and conceding a 100 runs, he made way for Mohammad Irfan, playing his first Test at Newlands.

Taking 3/86 in the first innings, he showed his potential on the faster South African tracks.

A last minute injury to Umar Gul and the decision to drop Tanvir Ahmed gave 19-year-old Ehsan Adil a chance to experience Test cricket for the first time in this match.

The rookies stepped up to the task and Rahat trapped Petersen in front of leg stump, giving Rahat his first Test wicket.

Petersen had made 10 runs and South Africa were 13/1 after 15 minutes of play.

Adil grabbed Smith’s wicket with only his third ball in Test cricket.

Smith, on five, got an outside edge which ballooned closer towards first slip and Younus, standing at second, moved swiftly across his captain to snatch the catch.

Opting for a fourth seamer instead of another batsman to replace the injured Jacques Kallis, South Africa looked to be in a shaky position on 38/2.

Amla, together with Faf du Plessis, came to the rescue adding an unbeaten 66 for the third wicket.

Amla reached his 27th half-century off 76 balls just before lunch and Du Plessis was on 29.

Teams:

South Africa: Graeme Smith (captain), Alviro Petersen, Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers (wk), Faf du Plessis, Dean Elgar, Robin Peterson, Vernon Philander, Dale Steyn, Rory Kleinveldt, Kyle Abbott.

Pakistan: Mohammed Hafeez, Imran Farhat, Azhar Ali, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq (captain), Asad Shafiq, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), Ehsan Adil, Saeed Ajmal, Rahat Ali, Mohammad Irfan.