3.2. Abbott slices Pakistan to follow-through

Ibrahim Moiz
23/2/2013

Pakistan were reduced to a follow-on as early as the second evening at Centurion as South Africa’s debutant seamer Kyle Abbott scythed through the visitors’ lineup like a hot knife through butter, snaring 7 for 29 to dispatch them for a paltry 156. South Africa had rollicked merrily to 409 themselves despite a maiden five-wicket haul for Pakistan’s own young swing bowler Rahat Ali, who finished with 6 for 127 as a rare success on an otherwise dismal day for the visitors.

The secret of Abbott’s spectacular debut—yielding the best figures by a South African bowler on debut, and one of the best in history—was an unspectacular but decidedly efficient mixture of exceptional accuracy on the corridor of uncertainty and a hint of movement along with appreciable bounce on a wicket not nearly as flat as South Africa’s own gleeful rollick may have indicated. With barely any scraps offered to the Pakistan batsmen, Abbott regularly fed a voracious slip cordon—as many of six of his wickets were snaffled behind the wickets either in the slips or gully—to lead a clinical display from the seam attack.

Rahat’s own admirable effort had been a contrast, a number of excellent balls mixed in with some pressure releasers that yielded in his expensive economy rate. That said, there was little denying the ruthlessness of South Africa’s batsmen, AB de Villiers rounding off his century overnight—a splendid 121, with 15 fours—while the aggressive allrounder Vernon Philander muscled a beefy 74 (nine fours).

The pair’s overnight partnership sped to 129 at a gallop, Philander especially finding the leg-side boundaries with regularity en route a fifty off 80 balls before he nicked the unpretentious wobbler Younus Khan low to Mohammad Hafeez in the slips. De Villiers enjoyed some dessert after yesterday’s lunch with some tasty cover drives, but he fell to a top-edged pull off Rahat that was superbly held by a running, swooping Asad Shafiq at deep midwicket. Rahat, the most incisive if not consistent of the bowlers in the innings, deservedly finished with six scalps as Rory Kleinveldt top-edged to mid-on and Abbott was bowled through the gate.

Despite notching up their best opening stand of the series—46, which speaks as much for Pakistan’s openers as South Africa’s new-ball excellence—Pakistan soon tottered in a heap. The in-form Imran Farhat, recalled for the first time in nearly three years after strong first-class form, dominated that stand with a relatively lively 30 that succeeded briefly in getting under the skins of the hitherto unerringly successful South Africa new-ball attack. But it didn’t last long; having successfully reviewed a leg-before off Philander that had pitched outside leg-stump, the southpaw was trapped by another that swung into him on the off-stump line.

One wicket brought a cluster; Hafeez, having stuck around for the first and last time this series, didn’t long outlive his opening partner, fending Abbott’s sixth ball low to Dean Elgar at gully. Next ball, Azhar Ali lost his stumps to an inner edge off the immaculately accurate Philander (56 for 3) and only Younus (33) from the remaining batsmen boxed out a notable contribution.

Abbott’s pristine away-shape squared Misbah-ul-Haq into a clumsy edge behind, and Asad Shafiq played around a heated Dale Steyn. Younus, unusually subdued for most of his innings, did manage to spar some back-foot punches while Sarfraz Ahmed managed to square-drive a few balls on the rise. But Abbott returned to slice out the last seven wickets: consecutive full-pitched away-drifters, poked at unconvincingly by Sarfraz and Saeed Ajmal, were edged to Graeme Smith at slip (132 for 7), and, with lanky tail-enders Ehsan Adil and Mohammad Irfan hanging leg-side of the ball simply to prod ginger edges into the cordon, the debutant soon finished with a superb five-for. Last to go was Younus, playing round a full in-swinger to give Abbott a rare wicket not caught behind—an indication of the skill, accuracy and consistency of South Africa’s debutant.

Pakistan’s start to the follow-on hardly helped their case, either; instead of the specialist Farhat, Azhar walked out to open, and promptly saw the first ball of the innings, from Steyn, flatten a hapless Hafeez’s stumps. It was simply too easy for an outstanding South Africa attack that has entered yet another excellent member into its ranks.