Corbin Bosch’s dream outing continued as he scored his maiden half-century off 46 balls and the highest score by a No 9 batter on debut in Tests as he built South Africa’s 90-run first-innings lead. Pakistan ate into most of that in their second innings but lost three wickets and remained two runs behind, leaving South Africa with their noses in front.

The hosts, who need one more Test win  to guarantee a place in the World Test Championship  final, were at risk of squandering the opportunity to get ahead after collapsing from 178 for 4 to 213 for 8 but a 41-run stand between Bosch and Kagiso Rabada and a 47-run last-wicket partnership between Bosch and Dane Paterson gave them a healthy lead. They did not maximise the advantage immediately and Pakistan’s opening pair of Saim Ayub and Shan Masood put on 49 inside 11 overs before they lost 3 for 25 on a day that ebbed and flowed, more from entertainment than the quality of the cricket.

Both sets of batters will look back in some anger at the way they were dismissed. South Africa’s middle order have questions over some ordinary shot selection while Pakistan, aside from their first innings collapse, now have to deal with signs of variable bounce as they look to build a target they can defend. Amongst those bigger picture narratives, was Bosch’s delight as he ended unbeaten on 81 and was given the new ball in the second innings in a match where he has had a Midas touch.

Bosch came to the crease with South Africa on 191 for 7. Aiden Markram on 87 and Naseem Shah was in the middle of a marathon ten-over spell. Naseem had done the damage either side of lunch after he pulled his length back. That probed a well-set David Bedingham outside off and drew an edge off the back-foot drive to first slip, which sparked a collapse.

Post lunch, Naseem resumed with the same determination. He had Kyle Verreynne caught in the slips off the 14th ball of the second session, playing a loose drive to a ball on fifth stump. Two overs later, he tested Marco Jansen with a tighter line and drew an edge but Ayub put it down at gully. It would not have mattered as Naseem had over-stepped. He did not have to wait too long to rectify his error. His next ball was back of a length and angling away, Jansen edged and was caught behind.

At that point, Markram might have been wondering if he was running out of partners. Bosch provided the answer with back to back boundaries off Khurrram Shahzad and then two more off Naseem and South Africa settled. Markram faced 14 of the 30 balls that were bowled after Bosch got to the crease and added only three runs to his total before he was bounced out. Shahzad set him up with a couple of deliveries just back of a length, then one on a good length and then the snorter. Markram was not expecting it and edged to Mohammad Rizwan to fall 11 short of what would have been a second century this year.

South Africa only led by two at that point and Pakistan had the opportunity to keep things fairly even but they were taken apart by Bosch for the second day running. He was aggressive on front and back foot and had a disciplined partner in Rabada, who pulled out one of the most eye-catching cover drives of the game.

When Aamer Jamal was brought back on half an hour before tea, Rabada’s patience ran out. He swiped across the line and sent the ball aerially in the direction of the non-striker. Babar Azam took a good catch at short midwicket, looking into the sun to end what was becoming a frustrating partnership for Pakistan.

Bosch would go on to get his milestone and reached fifty with a stunning cover drive. His is the second-fastest fifty by a South African on debut. Then Paterson swung and scored four off Jamal and six when he hit Abbas over long-off. Desperate to end the lower-order resistance, Naseem was brought back after a brief break and bowled four more overs but could not get the breakthrough. Instead it was the part-time spin of Ayub, the only spinner used in the match so far, that did the trick. Paterson tried to launch him out of the ground but skied it to mid-off where Shahzad ran circles before taking the catch.

South Africa started poorly with the ball in the second innings. Rabada and Bosch shared the new ball but both were too short and too wide in their opening spells. Ayub and Shan Masood played aggressively and raced to 41 in the first seven overs before Temba Bavuma brought on Paterson from Bosch’s end.

His first two overs cost five runs and brought a semblance of pressure which was all Rabada needed to adjust back to his best. In his sixth over, he produced an absolute jaffa on a length and nipping away. Ayub couldn’t get behind the line of the ball as it curved to hit the top of offstump. Rabada finished a seven-over spell with figures of 1 for 31.

Jansen took over from him and immediately looked a threat with the bounce he generated. Masood negotiated his first over but when Jansen found even more lift in the second, he hung his bat out and edged low to Tristan Stubbs at third slip. In Jansen’s next over, Kamran Ghulam, who scored 54 in the first innings, edged to Ryan Rickelton in the gully. That catch needed to be looked at a few more times but Rickelton appeared to have fingers under the ball and Ghulam’s short stay was over.

Saud Shakeel benefitted from loose bowling towards the end of the day and struck two authoritative boundaries before bad light caused an early end to play.

Brief scores:
Pakistan 211 and 88 for 3 in 22 overs (Saim Ayub 27, Shan Masood 28, Babar  Azam 16*; Marco Jansen 2-17) trail South Africa 301 in 73.4 overs (Aiden Markram 89, Corbin Bosch 81*, Temba Bavuma 31, David Bedingham 30; Khurram Shahzad 3-75, Naseem Shah 3-92, Aamer Jamal 2-36) by two runs

[Cricinfo]