Pakistan head for defeat as fourteen wickets fall

Having batted well through 45 overs at the end of day two, Pakistan started day three with a lot of promise, but once the new ball was taken Shaun Pollock and Makhaya Ntini ripped the heart out of the batting, taking six wickets for the addition of only 12 runs.

The new ball was taken at the start of the 81st over with Pakistan 240 for the loss of four wickets. 46 balls later Pakistan was all out for 252, with Pollock taking two for two and Ntini four for ten. A collapse that is hard to express in words, a lot easier in feelings and emotions.

Pakistan had started the day well on a pitch that was flat and almost made to order by the batsmen. It took Pollock and umpire Srinivas Venkataraghavan 35 minutes to get the initial breakthrough, when Younis Khan was unlucky to be given out lbw when the ball clearly struck the pad outside off stump. Younis had looked for fifty, but to departed for 46 and the 116-run second-wicket record partnership had ended on 152.

The turning point came when Inzamam-ul-Haq, once again showing signs of his ability with the bat, could not resist the pull, sending a short ball from Mornantau Hayward straight down the throat of deep square leg. His partnership with Taufeeq Umar was just starting to look dangerous for South Africa when lack of application cost Inzamam his wicket. Once again a batsman had got into the thirties but no further.

Hayward got rid of Yousuf Youhana first ball, fishing outside off, and a collapse was in prospect. But Umar showed that with a bit of application plenty of runs were for the taking. Stuck in the nervous nineties for 50 minutes, he worked through it, going to his third hundred and eventually recording his highest Test score of 135.

Ntini was first to strike with the new ball, getting one to go across Umar whoi was caught by Kallis at second slip. At 240/5 the stuffing had gone, and Pakistan went down like turkeys at Christmas.

Kamran Akmal walked into a ball from Pollock to depart without scoring and Pakistan were 247/6. Faisal Iqbal, after playing and missing several times, was bowled trying to pull Ntini for 24, Pakistan 251/7. Waqar Younis wafted outside the off to Pollock, 252/8, and Ntini dispatched a swinging Saqlain Mushtaq and defensive Mohammad Zahid to end it at 252, still 368 behind South Africa's 620/7 declared.

The follow-on started disastrously, with Saleem Elahi caught at mid-wicket top-edging a pull, and Younis caught at gully to leave Pakistan two wickets down with nine runs on the board. It could have been worse, as Dippenaar put Umar down off the first ball of the second innings.

Umar carried on from where he had left off, and with Inzamam played positive cricket to register another record, this time the third wicket for Pakistan against South Africa.

A double strike on 130 from Boje and Pollock got rid of a far more committed Inzamam, stumped for 60, and a maturing Umar, caught behind for 67, to reduce Pakistan to 130/4.

Youhana took an immediate liking to Boje, crashing four fours, a two and a six off the first over he received from the spinner. The first ball of the next over also went six, obviously the shots of a man resigned to defeat.

With 47 in a 50-run partnership with Faisal Iqbal, Youhana created some entertainment by going to the second-fastest 50, in terms of balls faced, in Test history. It was one ball short of the 26 balls taken by Ian Botham against India in 1981-82.

Boje, although expensive, had his revenge when Youhana was caught at deep mid-on for 50, and Pakistan were 184/5 at stumps with Iqbal not out on two.