South Africa beat Pakistan in tense finish to enter Test championship final | Cricket News

South Africa sealed their place in the World Test Championship final with a two-wicket win.

South African tailenders Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen battled relentless fast bowler Mohammad Abbas for a tense two-wicket win in the first Test in Centurion to seal the Proteas’ place in next year’s World Test Championship (WTC) final.

Jansen (16 not out) eclipsed Abbas’s brilliant figures of 6-54 on Sunday with a square boundary against the fast bowler as South Africa reached 150-8 just after lunch on Day 4 and escaped with a narrow win in the two-match series opener.

“Quite an emotional moment for me, a good advertisement for Test cricket,” said South Africa captain Temba Bavuma, who scored 40.

“We weren’t ruthless but we found a way to make sure the result was in our favour. A lot of joy and happiness from our side, a little bit of a roller-coaster, we are glad that we managed to win a result.”

Abbas, returning after more than three years in the Test wilderness, smashed South Africa’s tough 148-run chase in a 13-over marathon before lunch as the home side limped to 99-8, losing four wickets for three runs.

However, Rabada shifted gears in an unbroken 51-run battle with Jansen to make an unbeaten 31 off 26 balls with five fours to seal a memorable win and deny Pakistan their first Test victory in South Africa in almost 18 years.

South Africa started this WTC cycle with a 1-1 series draw against India before being beaten 2-0 in New Zealand. But since then the Proteas have beaten the West Indies, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to remain at the top of the table.

“It [the WTC final] is big, not only for me, but also for the team and the coach,” said Bavuma. “The way we started our campaign against India and then New Zealand with a not very strong team and the way we went with our performances, a lot of people didn’t give us a chance.”

India, Australia and Sri Lanka are the other teams still in contention for June’s WTC final against South Africa at Lord’s.

Captain Temba Bavuma (40) and Aiden Markram (37) thwarted Abbas an hour after South Africa resumed a shaky 27-3, still needing 121 to win.

Bavuma’s controversial dismissal punctuated South Africa’s collapse in the second half of the first session with Abbas grabbing three of his six balls in a sensational collapse for the home side.

Bavuma surprisingly did not request a televised review when replays suggested Abbas’ ball brushed the batsman’s pocket and failed to make contact with the inside edge of the bat, and the South African captain returned to the dressing room.

Abbas bowled an unchanged marathon spell of 13 overs but had to wait as Markram and Bavuma bowled eight overs from the fast bowlers.

Resuming on 27-3, Bavuma and Markram showed plenty of patience against Abbas’s line and length before the fast bowler finally made a breakthrough after the first drinks break.

Abbas was rewarded for his brilliant bowling when he beat the outside edge of Markram’s bat and bowled the stumps.

Bavuma survived a couple of narrow chances when he successfully overturned an LBW decision against him on the field early in the day and Naseem Shah couldn’t hold on to a sharp catch at fine leg as he overstepped the boundary cushion while grabbing the ball over his head.

South Africa were in control at 96-4 before Bavuma’s dismissal saw Abbas find the outside edges of the bat of David Bedingham (14) and Corbin Bosch (0) off consecutive deliveries, with Kyle Verreynne pulling a Naseem Shah delivery in between back to your stumps. .

Abbas found the outside edge of Rabada’s bat in his first over after lunch which fell just short of wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan before both tailenders took the team home.

“We are extremely proud of the effort but moving forward, we have to be relentless,” Pakistan captain Shan Masood said. “We keep making the same mistakes, but we have to cross the line, use the moments.”

The second Test starts in Cape Town on Friday.