South Africa vs Pakistan, 2nd Test at Cape Town, , Feb 14 2013 - Ball by Ball Commentary

Presentation:

Misbah: "Improved performance especially the batting. It was Peterson who took the advantage from us. If we had set 250 target that would have been tricky on this wicket. Credit to the South African bowlers today, we could not score fully. The pressure created leads to wickets. Ajmal always puts us in commanding situations.

Smith: "It was a tough Test. The conditions reminded me of the subcontinent. Ajmal's not the No.1 bowler for no reason. It's a quality bunch of guys. We were hoping to strike with the second new ball but Vernon struck for us. We turned it around in our first innings. Robbie's 84 really contributed well for us."

The Man of the Match is Robin Peterson: "I'm pleased we got over the line. All week the coaching staff had been hammering it to me to play with more positive intent. Everyone did their part, even though we missed Morne. I've said it before that Ajmal is a genius. To take those wickets and not get the Man of the Match must be disappointing for him."

Win for Smith in his 100th Test as captain of South Africa. Plenty to read on this match in the next few hours. Thanks for your company and the mails. We'll see you all for the Centurion Test starting on Friday. Cheers!

End of match: South Africa take an unassailable 2-0 series lead with one to play. They were pushed close in this Test but showed the character to bounce back after struggling in the first innings. Peterson's knock helped get them close to Pakistan's score, but the visitors couldn't capitalise as well as they would have liked. There was a turnaround today when the ball was changed after the first drinks break, triggering off a collapse. From then on it was all South Africa.

Pakistan fought hard and they shouldn't be too despondent. Their errors were obvious. At the start, they erred by not playing an extra spinner in Abdur Rehman. Ajmal had to shoulder almost all the burden. To say that Mohammad Hafeez was underbowled would be an understatement. Misbah will have a lot to answer. Selection cost Pakistan here. Tanvir was hardly a seam option. He didn't have the pace, nor the movement. Expect changes at Centurion. Ajmal toiled manfully, and Shafiq and Younis showed fine character under pressure in the first innings.

And Hafeez gets a bowl!

Can Peterson finish this off?

A bit too late though

Nahim: "A hammer blow for du Plessis's average."

Three to win

Dave Angel: "So proud of this SA team. Every time they seem to be up against it, they find a way to come out on top. They did it in England, then in Aus, and now at home against Pak. They seem to use setbacks as opportunities to do something extraordinary. So proud of them."

Kamran: "Misbah actually keeps getting back to Tanvir because he heard the commentators saying that Pakistan's slower bowlers are its only chance to win this game."