South Africa v Pakistan - Fifth Test

The Wanderers, Johannesburg

South Africa: BA Richards, TL Goddard, *WJ Cronje, RG Pollock, AD Nourse, DJ Cullinan, +DT Lindsay, MJ Procter, HJ Tayfield, NBF Mann, AA Donald.
Pakistan: Mohsin Khan, Mudassar Nazar, Majid Khan, Javed Miandad, Saleem Malik, Asif Iqbal, *Imran Khan, Wasim Akram, +Wasim Bari, Abdul Qadir, Waqar Younis.

Debuts: Nil
Umpires: LH Barker (WI) & BC Cooray (SL)
Toss: South Africa

What appeared to be the best batting surface of the series awaited the teams in Johannesburg, and this was proved to be the case as both sides piled up the runs in their respective first innings. Hansie Cronje won the toss, and under a cloudless sky Barry Richards flicked the first ball of the match for four, thereby setting the tone for what was to come. The early going was dominated by Richards, who looked dead set for a spectacular century until, on 95, he fell lbw to Mudassar's first ball, deceived by a distinct lack of pace from the part-timer. South Africa were 147-2 at this stage, and with the medium pace of Mudassar and Asif causing a fair few problems, the innings stuttered somewhat to 250-4, at which point Dennis Lindsay joined Pollock in a stand of 103 at almost a run a ball to reassert the Proteas' superiority.

Lindsay spanked 56 of his 63 runs in boundaries, and when he was finally caught by Javed off Imran on the second morning, Pollock took over the bulk of the scoring. Cronje contributed a brave 44 after being forced to retire hurt on the first day when he was hit 'below the belt' by a ball from Waqar, but Pollock went on to notch his second century of the series in remorseless fashion, eventually reaching 159 out of South Africa's final total of 474. With pace proving ineffectual, an extended spell from Qadir allowed him to mop up the tail, and his five wicket haul would have given some hope to South Africa's spin twins Mann and Tayfield, the latter of whom had been included in place of Peter Heine, the hosts' only change of personnel in the entire series.

Mohsin and Mudassar gave Pakistan a solid start however, and after Majid (30) and Mohsin (75) both fell in the space of three deliveries on the third morning to set the score back to 148-3, two successive century stands handed the momentum squarely back to the tourists. Saleem Malik was the constant factor in both partnerships, first adding 127 with Javed and then 143 with Asif Iqbal before he became bogged down in the nineties and eventually fell two runs short of a maiden ATG hundred, trapped lbw by Procter early on day four. The recalled Asif continued to bat like a prince though, soon moving on to the fourth century of his career, and fifty stands with Imran and Akram ensured that there would be no lower order collapse for Pakistan this time.

Asif was finally out for a career best 151, Donald bowling him with the new ball to claim his only scalp of the innings, and a brief shower shortly after Asif's dismissal brought about a declaration from Imran, Pakistan having racked up an impressive 542-8, the highest score in the series by either side. We were now halfway through day four, and although they held a lead of 68, Pakistan would have to bowl very well if they were to put South Africa under any sort of pressure on what was still a good batting strip. Wickets did fall though, and a close of play scoreboard that read 153-4 gave Pakistan some hope going into the final day.

Pollock was still there however, and with Cullinan dropping anchor at the other end he taught the tourists' bowlers a harsh lesson on the fifth morning. He survived a stumping chance off Qadir when he was on 90, and that reprieve allowed him to complete his second century of the match, just the seventh time such a feat has been recorded in 185 ATG Tests. Pollock had made 128 and had added 132 with Cullinan when Waqar finally breached his defences on the stroke of lunch, and although Imran and Akram were able to clean out the tail with the new ball in the afternoon, South Africa's total of 315 set Pakistan an unlikely target of 248 off 43 overs in light that was fading rapidly. Unsurprisingly, the tourists were unable to mount anything like a realistic challenge, and with 20 overs still remaining bad light and drizzle brought the match and the series to a damp, dank end.

Graeme Pollock was inevitably presented with the man of the match award, but South Africa's man of the series accolade went to Hansie Cronje, who not only contributed over 400 runs off his own bat but led the side superbly in his first series as skipper; nail biting victories in the second and fourth Tests sandwiched the most comprehensive of wins in the third, and South Africa now move back up to third place in the world rankings after languishing in fifth before the start of the series.

Scores
SAF 1st Inns 474 (Pollock 159, Richards 95, Lindsay 63, Cronje 44; Abdul Qadir 5-98)
PAK 1st Inns 542 (Asif Iqbal 151, Saleem Malik 98, Javed Miandad 80, Mohsin Khan 75)
SAF 2nd Inns 315 (Pollock 128, Cullinan 55, Cronje 46; Imran Khan 4-72)
PAK 2nd Inns 68-3

MATCH DRAWN


Man of the Match: RG Pollock