Senuran Muthusamy has claimed career-best Test figures of 6/117 to bowl Pakistan out for 378 before the Proteas moved to 10 without loss on the second morning of the first Test at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.
The left-arm spinner claimed four wickets to ensure the hosts were only able to add 65 runs after resuming on 313/5 overnight.
Muthusamy brought about the initial breakthrough when he extracted extra bounce and turn off the surface to break a record sixth-wicket stand of 163 by finding Muhammad Rizwan’s (75) outside edge, which was neatly taken behind by wicket-keeper Kyle Verreynne.
And like he did on the first day when he claimed back-to-back wickets, Muthusamy got the ball rolling again with two further two scalps in the over by clean bowling Noman Ali and Sajid Khan without both batters troubling the scorers.
It resulted in Muthusamy celebrating his maiden five-wicket haul in Test cricket. Muthusamy’s previous best was 4/45 against Bangladesh in Chattogram last year.
But the 31-year-old was not done yet as he outfoxed Shaheen Shah Afridi with a looping delivery. The tailender could not resist the temptation and stormed down the pitch, but his agricultural heave missed the ball entirely and he could only look back to see his stumps rattled.
This left Salman Agha stranded at the other end on 93, and despite last man Hasan Ali surviving Muthusamy’s three deliveries, the Pakistan vice-captain knew he needed to act decisively if he was to reach his fourth Test century.
It ultimately led to his demise though as he attacked Prenelan Subrayen in the next over but only managed to find Muthusamy on the deep mid-wicket boundary to close out Pakistan’s innings.
Proteas openers Aiden Markram and Ryan Rickelton survived a tense 20 minutes before the lunch interval with Pakistan employing the pace of Shaheen Shah from the one end and Noman’s left-arm spin from the other without any success.
First Test, Day 2, Lunch
Pakistan: 378 all out (Salman 93, Imam 93, Masood 76, Rizwan 75, Muthusamy 6/117, Subrayen 2/78)
South Africa: 10/0 (Markram 5*, Rickelton 4*)
South Africa trail by 368 runs
