During the 2024/25 ICC World Test Championship, South Africa played against Pakistan in Newlands, Cape Town, where the Pakistani team got defeated by 2-0 in the two-match series. South Africa and New Zealand decided to go with the bat, and the African teams won the toss and decided to go into bat.
The match was played between 3 January and 6 January 2025, and the Player of the match was given to Ryan Rickelton and the Player of the series to Marco Jansen. This debutant, Kwena Maphaka looked good in his first Test. The referees for the match were Kumar Dharmasena and Nitin Menon The result gave South Africa twelve points while Pakistan lost five points. They were outplayed by the South Africans in the last match to conclude the tournament.
South Africa 1st Innings
The South Africa team came under pressure while they were at the crease throughout the day. Aiden Markram scored 17 with 40 balls but got out on the hand of Khurram Shahzad. Ryan Rickelton, setting the stage on fire, made 259 runs off 343 balls and four fours and three sixes before getting caught by Mohammad Rizwan off Mir Hamza’s ball.
Wiaan Mulder got a start and scored only 5 runs off 18 balls before being dismissed by Mohammad Abbas. Tristan Stubbs went for a duck, failing to hit a single boundary off 6 balls as he was caught by Rizwan with the help of Agha Salman. Nevertheless, the key batting in the South Africa side, Rickelton played a gem of an innings, though bowler-friendly wickets prevailed in those days.
| Batter | Runs | Balls | 4s | 6s | Strike Rate | Dismissal | Bowler |
| Dean Elgar | 14 | 37 | 2 | 0 | 37.83 | c Rizwan b Afridi | Shaheen Afridi |
| Ryan Rickelton | 259 | 343 | 29 | 3 | 75.51 | c Rizwan b Salman | Agha Salman |
| Temba Bavuma (c) | 106 | 182 | 11 | 2 | 58.24 | b Abbas | Mohammad Abbas |
| Kyle Verreynne (wk) | 100 | 158 | 11 | 1 | 63.29 | b Salman | Agha Salman |
| Heinrich Klaasen | 14 | 34 | 2 | 0 | 41.18 | b Nawaz | Mohammad Nawaz |
| Marco Jansen | 62 | 105 | 8 | 1 | 59.05 | b Abbas | Mohammad Abbas |
| Keshav Maharaj | 40 | 74 | 6 | 0 | 54.05 | b Salman | Agha Salman |
| Gerald Coetzee | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | c Rizwan b Afridi | Shaheen Afridi |
| Kagiso Rabada | 8 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 114.29 | c Rizwan b Nawaz | Mohammad Nawaz |
| Simon Harmer | 1 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 12.50 | b Abbas | Mohammad Abbas |
| Lungi Ngidi | 1* | 4 | 0 | 0 | 25.00 | Not out | |
| Extras | 10 | (5b, 4lb, 1nb) | |||||
| Total | 615 | 141.3 | All out |
South Africa 2nd Innings
| Batter | Runs | Balls | 4s | 6s | Strike Rate | Dismissal | Bowler |
| Dean Elgar | 25* | 28 | 4 | 0 | 89.29 | Not out | |
| Ryan Rickelton | 29* | 16 | 4 | 0 | 181.25 | Not out | |
| Extras | 4 | ||||||
| Total | 58/0 | 7.1 |
Pakistan 1st Innings
Pakistan’s first innings was bad against the South African bowling line up . Imam-ul-Haq put up a good show with 61 of 105; 8 fours before he was dismissed by Kagiso Rabada. Opener and the captain Babar Azam fought till the end as he scored 45 off 74 with seven fours but was dismissed by Lungi Ngidi.
Shan Masood too could spend only a brief time out in the middle, scoring 18 off 35 before falling victim to Anrich Nortje. Not a single player could muster a decent score in the middle and thus the middle order lost wickets pretty quickly. The Pakistan batting came to an end at 182 and South African bowlers especially Kagiso Rabada and Ngidi repeatedly checked the Pakistani ascend.
| Batter | Runs | Balls | 4s | 6s | Strike Rate | Dismissal | Bowler |
| Abdullah Shafique | 10 | 35 | 1 | 0 | 28.57 | b Rabada | Kagiso Rabada |
| Imam-ul-Haq | 5 | 23 | 1 | 0 | 21.74 | b Maharaj | Keshav Maharaj |
| Azhar Ali | 19 | 49 | 3 | 0 | 38.78 | c Harmer b Maharaj | Keshav Maharaj |
| Babar Azam (c) | 48 | 64 | 7 | 0 | 75.00 | b Harmer | Simon Harmer |
| Saud Shakeel | 22 | 47 | 3 | 0 | 46.81 | b Jansen | Marco Jansen |
| Mohammad Rizwan (wk) | 33 | 59 | 5 | 0 | 55.93 | c Elgar b Harmer | Simon Harmer |
| Agha Salman | 10 | 19 | 1 | 0 | 52.63 | b Jansen | Marco Jansen |
| Mohammad Nawaz | 14 | 21 | 3 | 0 | 66.67 | c Rabada b Maharaj | Keshav Maharaj |
| Shaheen Afridi | 4 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 80.00 | b Rabada | Kagiso Rabada |
| Naseem Shah | 12 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 133.33 | b Maharaj | Keshav Maharaj |
| Mohammad Abbas | 6* | 12 | 1 | 0 | 50.00 | Not out | |
| Extras | 11 | (7b, 2lb, 2nb) | |||||
| Total | 194 | 54.2 | All out |
Pakistan 2nd Innings (Follow-on)
| Batter | Runs | Balls | 4s | 6s | Strike Rate | Dismissal | Bowler |
| Abdullah Shafique | 12 | 34 | 1 | 0 | 35.29 | c Rickelton b Rabada | Kagiso Rabada |
| Imam-ul-Haq | 35 | 79 | 6 | 0 | 44.30 | b Jansen | Marco Jansen |
| Azhar Ali | 73 | 122 | 11 | 0 | 59.84 | c Verreynne b Harmer | Simon Harmer |
| Babar Azam (c) | 123 | 159 | 18 | 1 | 77.36 | c Maharaj b Jansen | Marco Jansen |
| Saud Shakeel | 41 | 81 | 5 | 1 | 50.62 | c Ngidi b Harmer | Simon Harmer |
| Mohammad Rizwan (wk) | 78 | 96 | 9 | 2 | 81.25 | c Elgar b Rabada | Kagiso Rabada |
| Agha Salman | 35 | 62 | 6 | 0 | 56.45 | b Harmer | Simon Harmer |
| Mohammad Nawaz | 5 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 27.78 | b Ngidi | Lungi Ngidi |
| Shaheen Afridi | 6 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 50.00 | c Elgar b Maharaj | Keshav Maharaj |
| Naseem Shah | 1 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 12.50 | lbw b Maharaj | Keshav Maharaj |
| Mohammad Abbas | 1* | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14.29 | Not out | |
| Extras | 19 | (5b, 8lb, 6nb) | |||||
| Total | 478 | 122.1 | All out |
Bowling Scorecard
South Africa Bowling – 1st Innings
| Bowler | Overs | Maidens | Runs | Wickets | Economy | No Balls | Wide Balls |
| Kagiso Rabada | 13.2 | 3 | 45 | 2 | 3.38 | 0 | 1 |
| Lungi Ngidi | 9.0 | 1 | 32 | 0 | 3.56 | 0 | 0 |
| Marco Jansen | 12.0 | 2 | 41 | 2 | 3.42 | 1 | 0 |
| Keshav Maharaj | 20.0 | 5 | 64 | 4 | 3.20 | 0 | 0 |
| Simon Harmer | 16.0 | 3 | 45 | 2 | 2.81 | 0 | 0 |
South Africa Bowling – 2nd Innings
| Bowler | Overs | Maidens | Runs | Wickets | Economy | No Balls | Wide Balls |
| Kagiso Rabada | 15.0 | 3 | 57 | 2 | 3.80 | 0 | 0 |
| Lungi Ngidi | 8.0 | 1 | 32 | 1 | 4.00 | 0 | 0 |
| Marco Jansen | 18.0 | 2 | 87 | 2 | 4.83 | 1 | 0 |
| Keshav Maharaj | 23.0 | 6 | 79 | 2 | 3.43 | 0 | 0 |
| Simon Harmer | 28.1 | 4 | 112 | 3 | 3.98 | 0 | 0 |
Pakistan Bowling – 1st Innings
| Bowler | Overs | Maidens | Runs | Wickets | Economy | No Balls | Wide Balls |
| Shaheen Afridi | 26.0 | 4 | 98 | 2 | 3.77 | 0 | 0 |
| Naseem Shah | 22.0 | 3 | 93 | 0 | 4.23 | 0 | 0 |
| Mohammad Abbas | 27.3 | 4 | 85 | 3 | 3.09 | 1 | 0 |
| Mohammad Nawaz | 19.0 | 2 | 63 | 2 | 3.32 | 0 | 0 |
| Agha Salman | 19.0 | 1 | 84 | 3 | 4.42 | 0 | 0 |
Pakistan Bowling – 2nd Innings
| Bowler | Overs | Maidens | Runs | Wickets | Economy | No Balls | Wide Balls |
| Shaheen Afridi | 3.1 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 5.05 | 0 | 0 |
| Naseem Shah | 2.0 | 0 | 19 | 0 | 9.50 | 0 | 0 |
| Mohammad Abbas | 2.0 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 9.00 | 1 | 0 |
Key Highlights
Outstanding Bowling Performances
- South Africa bowler, Keshav Maharaj was the most efficient bowler of the match who took 06 wickets in all round and played four wickets in the first innings only.
- Patidar innovative 114 put Pakistan under pressure but Abbas (Pakistan) bowled a good line and length and is 3/29 in the first innings while his economy rate is 3.09.
Top Batting Performances:
- The Proteas as a team outplayed Bangladesh in the first innings with most of the batsmen contributing and being dismissed while Temba Bavuma was the highest scorer with 75.
- Pakistan’s fightback in the second innings was seen through Babar Azam who scored a decent half-century given the pressure.
Impactful Partnerships:
- South Africa’s middle order provided important: contributions, especially with the bat in the first innings, Keshav Maharaj and Simon Harmer batted well showing a good lower order stand.
- Pakistan lower order batted gallantly in the second innings and Agha Salman played a crucial innings today.
Control Over Runs:
- Simon Harmer (South Africa) was economical throughout the match, he bowled with a low first innings economy rate of 2.81 showing big control of run rate.
- Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah (Pakistan) looked lively and charged up, but they didn’t manage to take those wickets which could have stopped the South African combinations.
Match-Turning Moments
- Keshav Maharaj, with the ball in the first innings, the craftiness in breaking vital batting partnerships saw Pakistan post a competitive first innings score.
- Through a great fight from Babar Azam and Agha Salman, Pakistan failed to overhunt the target set by South Africa for the second innings.
Conclusion
The cricket game between South Africa National Cricket Team Vs Pakistan National Cricket Team was actually a very entertaining one with marvelous performances from both the sides. Maharaj was brilliant with the ball while the South African middle order played a crucial knock to ensure that they were always in control of the rook. Pakistan put up a spirited fight but could not reach the target set by Bangladesh as Babar Azam and Agha Salman made some good resistance with the bat. The match performance on the field revealed the need to form a partnership, and during the field, also the discipline when batting and bowling issues made up the match, making it a highly competitive one. South Africa all-round performance earned them a deserving victory.
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