South Africa tailenders Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen have hung in against 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) overshadowed Abbas’s brilliant figures of 6-54 on Sunday with a square driven boundary against the fast bowler as South Africa reached 150-8 just after lunch on Day 4 and escaped with a close win in the opener of the two-match series.
“Quite an emotional moment for me, good advert for Test cricket,” said South Africa captain Temba Bavuma, who made 40.
“We haven’t been ruthless but have found a way to ensure the result was on our side. Lot of joy and happiness on our side, a bit of a roller-coaster, glad that we were able to get the result.”
Abbas, making a comeback after more than three years in the Test wilderness, had knocked back South Africa’s tricky chase of 148 runs in a marathon 13-over spell before lunch as the home team limped to 99-8, losing four wickets for three runs.
However, Rabada changed gears in an unbroken 51-run stand with Jansen and made an unbeaten 31 off 26 balls with five fours to seal a memorable victory and denied Pakistan its first Test win in South Africa in almost 18 years.
South Africa had started this WTC cycle with a 1-1 drawn series against India before getting swept 2-0 in New Zealand. But since then, the Proteas have beaten the West Indies, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to stay on top of the table.
“It [the WTC final] is a big one, not just for myself but also the team and the coach,” Bavuma said. “The way we started our campaign against India and then New Zealand with a not-so-strong team and the way we have gone through with our performances not many gave 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.
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