Will Asif Afridi’s Dream Debut Spark Pakistan?
A first time to be remembered – Asif Afridi made himself felt in the Test arena when he took two vital wickets towards the end of the second day, injecting new life into the Pakistani mission against South Africa. The Rawalpindi Test is tense as South Africa has scored 185-4 and is behind by 148 runs following Pakistan’s first innings score of 333.
South Africa started slowly, with Aiden Markram and Ryan Rickelton thumping the fresh ball, but after Rickelton dropped Shaheen Afridi, the innings lost its track. Sajid Khan unraveled Markram, and then Tristan Stubbs (68) and Tony de Zorzi (55) were left to make a great recovery together (325), and they did not disappoint.
The Pakistan spinners were exhausted of ideas until Asif Afridi came to the scene and changed everything, as it was his first appearance. His performance to oust de Zorzi, and soon afterward, the sacking of Dewald Brevis after a duck, put Pakistan screaming back into the match.
In the case of Pakistan, their innings was that of Shan Masood’s 87, Saud Shakeel’s calm 66, and Maharaj’s spin wizardry with 7 wickets, a tribute to the steadiness in Asian conditions.
Day 3 will be a tactical battle: Pakistan will be insistent on breakthroughs early on, and Stubbs and Verreynne will have to reconstruct to close the gap. The storyline of the Test now depends on how Asif Afridi can deliver a fairytale debut that can help Pakistan to a much needed series victory.
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