South Africa prove they can win with spin on the subcontinent

Never before have spinners played such a major role for South Africa in a Test victory.

Simon Harmer and Keshav Maharaj's 17 wickets in Rawalpindi are the most by South African spinners in a win. Add Senuran Muthusamy's 11, Harmer's five and Prenelan Subrayen's two in Lahore and South Africa's spinners took 35 of the 40 wickets on offer this series - the most in a two-Test series.

The performance of the spin quartet speaks as much to South Africa's evolving relationship with spin to the improvement of the personnel involved. Put simply: "We didn't come here with mediocre spinners," as Kagiso Rabada said after the game, and he's right.

South Africa went to Pakistan with a clutch of the best spinners they have ever had. In Maharaj, who missed the first Test while he recovered from a groin injury, they have their country's most successful Test spinner and the only one to 200 wickets. In Harmer, who made his return to international cricket after two-and-half-years, they have the only South African spinner with 1000 first-class wickets. Between them, Harmer and Maharaj have 402 first-class caps. Add Muthusamy and Subrayen, with limited international exposure but plenty at domestic level, and South Africa's spinners had 595 matches worth of experience between them.

"There's a wealth of knowledge in our change room," Maharaj told the broadcasters as he received the player of the match award.

And it paid off. Maharaj, who took all five wickets as Pakistan's lower order suffered a collapse of 5 for 17 in their first innings, has made his name on discipline and accuracy and this performance was no different. According to ESPNcricinfo's ball-by-ball data, he delivered 301 of his 325 balls in the match on the stumps or just outside off which cramped the Pakistan batters for room and did not allow them to score freely. He conceded at under 2.5 runs per over through the match as Pakistan faced 705 dot balls (117.5 overs) in 163.1 overs, which was part of South Africa's plan to frustrate and eventually be able to dismiss them.

"Against the Pakistan batters, you needed to take away their boundary options," Harmer said. "They're very good at using their feet and something that we spoke about. Even when the ball's turning away from the bat, they're not scared to step out and get to the pitch of the ball. Non-subcontinent players look to sweep first versus using their feet, especially against a ball turning away. So I think with the amount of spinners we had in the squad, we bounced ideas around, came up with plans and then I think bowling in partnerships, as you touched on, is extremely important. In the first test, we probably weren't as good at that. We were leaking runs from one side. But then in this Test, we were able to sort of stop the game."

In Lahore, Pakistan faced 637 dot balls (106.1 overs) in 156.5 overs which is still a significant number but they scored at a run-rate of 3.47 compared to 2.88 in Rawalpindi. Some of that can be attributed to the slower nature of the Pindi surface, which turned less. That also meant South Africa's spinners, not known as huge turners of the ball anyway, had to rely on something other than just spin to take wickets.

Maharaj said he did it with consistency and flight. Harmer, whose second innings six-for set South Africa up to chase a small target to level the series, did it with changes of pace, something he refined on the county circuit. He has been in in the top 10 wicket-takers on the county championship in the last six seasons and was the leading wicket-taker in two of them (2019 and 2022).

"Recently, I feel like the wickets in England have died a bit. They've lost their zip and pace. There's a lot of times playing in Chelmsford where you get into a situation like that," he said. "Through the series, the most dangerous ball has been a pace off, between 78 and 82 (kph) On this wicket, the quicker pace was the pace that got batters to commit on the front foot, and then you could use your slower ball to get them into trouble. My time in England has helped me with that, bowling on flat wickets where there's not a lot happening. It's about how you construct your overs, what you're looking to do and what shots you want the batters to play."

An example was the ball that dismissed Saud Shakeel on the third day, before Pakistan had taken the lead. It was flighted generously by Harmer, and delivered at 79.7kph. Shakeel played a little early, tried to force it though the offside and got an edge for Aiden Markram to pouch at first slip. Maharaj's wicket-taking balls too, were in that same pace range, including the final one at 82kph which drew Sajid Khan out of his crease, only to miss a swipe and be stumped.

Muthusamy barely featured with the ball in Pindi and bowled only four overs in each innings. The most likely explanation is because South Africa already had left-arm spin covered with Maharaj but Harmer confirmed they still "felt we needed the option," even if they didn't use it. Muthusamy made the case for being included as a batter alone with his 89 not out and wasn't too concerned about his lack of contribution with the ball after taking a career-best 11-for in Lahore and ending as the Player of the Series.

"This Test match meant a lot more because we won the game," Muthusamy said on receiving his award. "The first Test was good. It was lovely to get a good few spells of bowling and to get a few wickets and contribute. In this Test, Kesh and Harmer bowled really well and they're world-class operators. I just try to do my best when I get a go."

In the end, that's what matters to South Africa. They got to this year's WTC final thanks to contributions from different players in different matches and if they are to challenge for the next one, they want to know they have a pool of players who can do the same. They've always known they have the fast bowlers, they discovered batters aplenty in the last cycle, and this series has shown that they also have the spinners which will be important as early as next month.

South Africa's next stop is India, where they last won a Test in 2011, and have since been outspun on two disastrous tours in 2015 and 2019. They're expecting similarly challenging surfaces but believe they have the resources to combat them.

"The unit that is out here in these conditions is up there with the best in the world," Aiden Markram said. "Generally, you think of South Africa as just a country of seamers with the odd spinner here and there. But in conditions like this, the guys that put their hands up and put in performances, it's bloody exciting for us as a team to see."