Pakistan vs South Africa, 1st Test at Lahore, PAK vs SA, Oct 12 2025 - Match Result

And that concludes a truly fascinating contest of red-ball cricket! Pakistan takes a crucial 1-0 lead in the two-match series. The victory will carry immense confidence and pride for Pakistan as they head into the second Test in Rawalpindi on October 20th. For South Africa, however, it's back to the drawing board. They'll have to figure out their batting woes against the Pakistan bowling attack and adopt a more rational approach. They have a few days to tweak and strategize. And that's all the action from us today. Thank you for joining us throughout the match. Until next time, this is Rashad Mahbub, signing off on behalf of Shashwat Kumar, Harshith Gowda, and the rest of the ESPNcricinfo crew. Ta-da!

Pakistan Captain, Shan Masood: "[Belated Happy Birthday] Thank you. We won the Test match, and it's gone exactly to plan. The spinners came into play, reverse swing helped the bowlers do their job, and the batters did well enough. We had a lot of challenges in the middle, and I think you have to give credit to South Africa; they kept coming back into the game. They're a great measuring stick for us because they're world champions. I'm glad we finished it off. [Bowling Attack] The spinners took the largest share of wickets, but Shaheen Shah Afridi was really sharp, getting the ball to reverse, and Hasan Ali also got the ball to reverse. The spell today from Shaheen was very heartening. He got his pace up, got the ball to do stuff, and that's one more armor in our bowling attack. Historically, we've always played on such surfaces and produced fast bowlers that have gotten wickets, so we've always wanted reverse swing to be in play. It's very important to have our seamers with us because when you play Test cricket, it's a collective effort. [Squad Depth] Shaheen bowling that spell and Hasan Ali in his short burst were important. The spinners did well. Sajid Khan was unlucky, but I thought him bowling about 50 overs in the game, and Noman Ali as well, showed plenty of encouraging signs. We've got a couple of seamers and a couple of spinners on the bench, and that creates the right armory going forward. [World Test Championship start] I think you always have to start well. It's a great opportunity playing the team that won the previous Test Championship. We are very excited to be back home, to be playing Test cricket, and to start off with a win. I think that's a great start. We've closed it off here today, and we're onto the next one. [Coffee cake and apple cake yesterday] I didn't cut any cakes yesterday because we were still quite in a dense position today. So we'll celebrate today with Babar Azam."

South Africa Captain, Aiden Markram: "There was some good stuff over the few days that we played. I thought there were really good signs with both bat and ball, but we have a bit to learn, and we need to clean up our game and come back better in the next match. It came down to a few small moments. They had a really good partnership in the first innings when we had them five wickets down. We probably could have scored a few more runs in the first innings. A lot of us got in and got out, and we didn't capitalize. If we tidy that up, it'll put us in good stead. [Sen Muthusamy] He is exceptional. If you watch him behind the scenes, he works really hard, bowls lots of balls, and takes his practice quite seriously. So it's no surprise that he's reaping the rewards out there in the middle, and I'm just really happy that he could maintain that form going forward. [Next Match] I'm not sure what the conditions will be like in Rawalpindi. I don't think it will be too different from this. I was happy with the balance we had. We felt that with the two seamers and the three spinners, we had a nicely balanced team. But we'll have to get to Pindi and see what it's like."

Player of the Match, Noman Ali: "I was very happy with my performance and the consistency of my bowling. The crucial wicket I took of Brevis was very important for Pakistan's cause today."

1:42pm Pakistan began this day on top. And Pakistan finish this day on top. In between, there was a breezy Brevis knock that threatened to spoil Pakistan's party and while he was at the crease, it felt that South Africa, hunting their highest-ever successful chase in the continent, might actually have a shot. But his dismissal sparked a turnaround, with Noman, like he did in the first innings, and Shaheen, standing up. The former effected the earlier dismissals, with the latter cleaning up the lower order. Sajid also got himself among the wickets, which included one of a very set and comfortable looking Rickelton.

As for South Africa, they will feel they made a decent fist of things, even if the result did not go their way. They lost a crucial toss and were playing catch-up after that. Brevis and Rickelton shone on day four, but the rest of the batting unit could not quite withstand Pakistan's pressure and with similar tracks in the offing, they may have to devise a plan to tackle them better.

Stat from Shubham Agarwal - Best fourth innings bowling figures for Shaheen Afridi. His previous best was 4-43 against the West Indies back in 2021.

Yves: "great to see Shaheen fit and firing like Wasim Akram of yore. Pace is pace, yaar! Those deliveries would've cleaned up any batter in the world."

Rhys: "I'm going to keep trying until you publish but just imagine what Khurram could've done with Afridi even on this pitch. Great bowlers get wickets on any pitch in any condition and Afridi is proving just that. "

Hamza: "What a win... To finish bottom last cycle and begin this one by defeating the champions... Just Pakistan things."

Rashad will be here soon and he will take you through the post-match presentation.

Ali: "Do Rabada have a FC hundred?" -- Ha! Not quite. Shaheen goes over the wicket

Dale: "Can we scrape that 2 wicket win again like we did against Pak back home in SA?" -- Ha! Wouldn't that be grand!

The target is now into double digits, but SA only have two wickets to play with

Pakistan going for the jugular with pace. Hasan on from the other end

Bilal: "Hey cricinfo, I always watch the match live but read ur comments. ITS THAT GOOD!" -- The pleasure is ours to bring all of the action to you!

Subrayen is the new batter in. Short leg, short mid wicket, another short mid wicket, short extra cover and a slip in place. Not to sound like a broken record, but he too has a FC hundred...

Mos: "Our ladies pulled off an unlikely chase against India the other day, Our soccer boys qualified for the world cup yesterday, against all odds SA have proven they can do it. Come on Boys!!" -- That task has just gotten a whole lot tougher...