Dubai, Nov. 14: South Africa held the upper hand in the first Test against Pakistan after paceman Morne Morkel grabbed five wickets and off-spinner Johan Botha took three on the third day at the Dubai Stadium on Sunday.
South Africa reached 139-2 at stumps to increase their overall lead to 271 with eight wickets in hand and a deteriorating pitch which is likely to take spin and have low bounce as the game progresses. Hashim Amla, with 44, and Jacques Kallis, on 32, were unbeaten at stumps after Morkel (5-54) and Botha (3-61) helped South Africa wrap up Pakistan’s first innings on 248, gaining a lead of 132.
Kallis and Amla strengthened South Africa’s position during their unfinished 63-run stand for the third wicket to pile pressure on their rivals. South Africa got off to a confident start of 47 before Graeme Smith (34) and Alviro Petersen (26) fell victim to questionable decisions by umpire Asoka de Silva.
Brief scores: South Africa 1st innings 380 (Graeme Smith 100, Hashim Amla 80, Jacques Kallis 73; Umar Gul 3 for 100, Abdur Rehman 3 for 101) and 139 for 2 (Hashim Amla 44 n.o.; Saeed Ajmal 1 for 31) vs Pakistan 248 (Mohammad Hafeez 60, Azhar Ali 56; Morne Morkel 5 for 54, Johan Botha 3 for 61).