 | « Back to article | Print this article |
Debutant Kyle Abbott took nine wickets as South Africa completed a 3-0 series sweep over Pakistan with a crushing innings and 18 run victory in the third and final test at Centurion on Sunday.
Pakistan were bowled out for 235 in their second innings, having managed 156 in their first in reply to South Africa's 409.
Abbott was the pick of the South African seamers on a helpful wicket, recording match figures of nine for 68.
The 25-year-old took the scalps of Imran Farhat (43) and Ehsan Adil (12) to add to his seven wickets from the first innings.
Starting the day on 14 for one, Pakistan showed some fighting spirit losing only Younus Khan (11), who played a thick edge off Dale Steyn to Graeme Smith at first slip, in the morning session.
But the tourists began to implode after lunch. Azhar Ali (27) and Farhat put on 54 for the third wicket before the former ran himself out in calamitous fashion.
Farhat worked the ball to fine leg and after running one, Ali turned for a second at the wicketkeeper's end. He was always struggling against the bullet throw of Steyn from the boundary and in the end was well short.
Pakistan lost two more wickets with the score on 107.
Abbott picked up his eighth of the match when Farhat (43) slashed at a wide delivery and was caught by wicketkeeper AB de Villiers.
Captain Misbah-ul-Haq (5) then became Rory Kleinveldt's first wicket of the game when he got a thin edge to a ball. Kleinveldt took a second when Asad Shafiq (6) scooped a delivery to Vernon Philander at mid-off.
Saeed Ajmal (31) and Sarfraz Ahmed put on 69 for the seventh wicket, but the former was trapped lbw by Steyn to end the resistance.
Sarfraz (40) followed soon afterwards when he top-edged Steyn to Dean Elgar at third man and Ehsan Adil tried to pull Abbott but only succeeded in ballooning the ball to Kleinveldt at mid-on.
The final pair of Mohammad Irfan (6 not out) and Rahat Ali (22) hung around for another 33 runs before Rahat was lbw to Robin Peterson to end the match.
South Africa won the first test in Johannesburg by 211 runs and completed a four-wicket victory in the second in Cape Town.
Photograph: Lee Warren/Gallo Images/Getty Images
