LAHORE, Pakistan: Opener Imam-ul-Haq missed out on his comeback test century as Pakistan recovered well from a brief collapse on an abrasive wicket to reach 313-5 against world champion South Africa in the first test on Sunday.
Imam played a fluent knock of 93 in his first test match after almost two years and together with captain Shan Masood, who made 76, gave Pakistan a strong start to its new World Test Championship cycle with a 161-run second-wicket stand.
The three South African spinners toiled hard but caught a break when they claimed three quick wickets without a run before Mohammad Rizwan (62 no) and Salman Ali Agha (52 no) struck unbeaten half centuries and gave Pakistan an early edge against the defending world test champion.
Both batters dominated the spinners with their strong sweep shots in a dominating final session for Pakistan that saw South Africa claiming the only wicket — struggling batter Babar Azam (23).
Rizwan had two narrow escapes before completing his half-century when captain Aiden Markram couldn’t snap a low catch in the slip and then the batter successfully overturned an lbw decision through referral.
