LUNCH: Proteas spinners toil in Lahore after early Kagiso Rabada strike

1st Test, Lahore, Lunch

Pakistan: 107/1 (Imam-ul-Haq 59*, Masood 44*, Rabada 1/27)

The Proteas started their tour of Pakistan in the best possible manner but have since been put under pressure in the first session of the first Test in Lahore.

Pace spearhead Kagiso Rabada – the only specialist fast bowler selected in the playing XI – struck with the third ball of the morning when he wrapped Pakistan opener Abdullah Shafique on the pads.

Australian umpire Rod Tucker initially turned down the appeal, but upon a Proteas review was forced to change his decision and send Shafique back to the dressingroom.

The Proteas had managed the early breakthrough they had craved after Pakistan captain Shan Masood won the toss and had no hesitation in electing to bat.

But that was the only reason to cheer for the World Test champions for the rest of the morning with Masood and Imam-ul-Haq launching a counter-attack.

Allrounder Wiaan Mulder shared the new ball with Rabada in the absence of the dropped Marco Jansen as the Proteas fielded three specialist spinners in Prenelan Subrayen, Simon Harmer and Senuran Muthusamy.

Subrayen was called upon as early as the sixth over of the morning, but was greeted by an advancing Masood with the Pakistan skipper not allowing the off-spinner to settle into any form of a rhythm by launching the spinner straight back over his head for six.

The Pakistani pair maintained the tempo throughout the session with Imam-ul-Haq moving comfortably to a half-century off just 67 balls with a single off Harmer. 

Masood was unbeaten on 44 at the lunch interval with the second-wicket partnership growing to an unbroken 105.

Harmer was the most threatening of the spin trio with the off-spinner managing to get the ball to grip and turn off the surface away from the left-handers, but could not yet prise an opening for the Proteas.

Rabada came closest again when he had a massive LBW shout against Imam-ul-Haq turned both by the on-field umpire and after sending it upstairs to be reviewed with the ball tracking showing the impact was outside the line. 

Teams:

South Africa: Tony de Zorzi, Ryan Rickelton, Wiaan Mulder, Aiden Markram (c), Tristan Stubbs, Dewald Brevis, Kyle Verreynne (wk), Senuran Muthusamy, Prenelan Subrayen, Kagiso Rabada, Simon Harmer

Pakistan: Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Shan Masood (c), Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Salman Agha, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Noman Ali, Sajid Khan