Pakistan looking for positives after wrapping up South Africa test series | Cricket News

South Africa seal a 10-wicket win in the second Test to win the cricket series 2-0 despite Pakistan’s late fightback in Cape Town.

South Africa secured a 2-0 cricket series victory over Pakistan after a 10-wicket win in the second match in Cape Town despite second-innings resistance from the tourists.

Chasing 421 runs in the first innings, Pakistan struggled for 478 runs. But South Africa, who qualified for the final of the World Test Championship last week, easily chased down their target of 58 late on Monday.

David Bedingham hit 44 off 30 balls as South Africa sealed victory in just 7.1 overs on the fourth day of the match.

Bedingham was opening in place of Ryan Rickelton, who suffered a hamstring strain in the field after scoring 259 in South Africa’s first innings of 615.

Captain Shan Masood led Pakistan’s batting with a score of 145.

After the result, Masood said he believed Pakistan had better days ahead as they held their own for a long time in difficult conditions.

“There were a lot of good things (in the series),” Masood said. “We did a really good job (in Pretoria) but we didn’t close it out. Even here we did not start well with the ball and the bat.

“We conceded a lot of runs in the first place and then folded with the bat (in the first innings) on a really nice surface. But then we struggled, we made our highest score in Test cricket against South Africa. Individual people stepped forward.”

Masud fell to the second new ball, 18-year-old debutant Kwena Maphaka tripping him before goal.

His dismissal came in three balls after Kagiso Rabada was caught at second slip by Saud Shakeel on 23, ending a 51-run fourth-wicket stand.

Pakistan were still 92 runs behind after the double strike, shortly after Saim Ayub broke his ankle while fielding on the first morning.

But Mohammad Rizwan (41) and Salman Agha (48) put on 88 for the sixth wicket and Aamer Jamal hit a quick 34 before the end of the innings.

South Africa’s bowlers received almost no help from a quiet pitch.

Left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj, expected to be a major factor in the fourth-day pitch, got minimal spin and toiled for 45 overs to take three for 137.

Masud will regret allowing his side to post a massive 615 in their first innings to South Africa, which meant the tourists were always chasing the game.

This is nothing new, Pakistan have played well in patches in recent times but under pressure too. Masood hopes they can be more consistent in the upcoming two-Test home series against the West Indies, which starts on January 17.

“We have to learn how to win decisive moments,” Masoud said. “We came back well against England (to win the series 2-1 in October). We did well with our backs against the wall.

“But we have to learn how to strike first.” We’ve got a lot of young cricketers to learn from and luckily we’re going straight into another series with the West Indies.”

Meanwhile, South Africa will go into June’s Test Championship final against Australia at Lord’s Cricket Ground in London with seven straight wins – the second most successful streak in their history.