Can South Africa chase down 277-run target to win the 1st Test against Pakistan?

[BouncerGuy]

Pakistan were bowled out for 167 in their second innings on Day 3, with Saud Shakeel’s 38 and Rizwan’s 14 offering brief resistance after Babar Azam’s dismissal for 42. The hosts had earlier secured a 109-run first-innings lead after posting 378 in reply to South Africa’s 269.

That leaves the visitors chasing 277 on a wearing pitch, with spin already playing a role and scoreboard pressure looming large. Pakistan’s attack—led by Shaheen, Hasan, and the spin trio—will be eyeing early breakthroughs as South Africa begin their final innings.

 

[RyanRyan10]

They won't

@Devadwal @mominsaigol bet?

 

[mominsaigol]

They won't

@Devadwal @mominsaigol bet?

Sure. I don't mind if PK wins. I'm hoping for a PK and Aus wtc final even if chances of it happening are low.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

Record chase. I don't see this Saffer lineup scoring more than 250 and even that is optimistic.

 

[Rana]

No chance.

 

[Rana]

If SA chase this,

Shan should be sacked and Pakistan needs a complete overhaul in Tests

 

[Devadwal]

They won't

@Devadwal @mominsaigol bet?

No team can chase 277 on this minefield, Forget about South Africa

 

[Devadwal]

@RyanRyan10 50k bet on pakistan win @1.5

Easy 25k profit coming

 

[hoshiarpurexpress]

no chance.

 

[TheRock]

SA won't reach anywhere close to 200.

 

[RidiculousMan]

Yes

 

[BouncerGuy]

60-40 south africa

 

[Devadwal]

60-40 south africa

99-1 Pakistan

 

[Cryin Out Loud]

Nah.

 

[mominsaigol]

Pakistan has won this the moment they won the toss

 

[AamchiMumbaikar]

No. Pak wins this

 

[Buffet]

Very slim chance of doing it. It's bat first and win kind of pitch.

 

[Omer2002]

they will do it in my opinion

 

[The Bald Eagle]

Cmon they are world champions

99-1 Pakistan

 

[DeadlyVenom]

Match is nicely poised. Pitch isn't as full of demons as scorecards suggest. Almost all wickets were thrown away by rash batting on both sides.

 

[CricVet]

For Pakistan sake, I am hoping they do. I hate spinning tracks. What kind of lazy cricket garbage is this nonsense. It is such a coward mentality.

Back to the topic, EXTREMELY unlikely!

 

[GoUgandaCranes]

Pak should win but I wouldn't be surprised if RSA manage to sneak in a 4-wicket win.

There's absolutely zero situational awareness in this team and they do not deserve to win anything. A substantially long period where they go winless or continuously at the bottom of the WTC is fully deserved.

 

[Chikkeh]

No, the Pakistani spinners will BAMBOOZAL saffers. They won't even reach 150.

 

[jnaveen1980]

Chances are less. Pitch like this can induce a lot of false shots. You need someone like Amla.

 

[Energy]

One attacking innings is enough to chase this down for SA as Pakistan will be rocked, shell-shocked, etc.

 

[jnaveen1980]

One attacking innings is enough to chase this down for SA as Pakistan will be rocked, shell-shocked, etc.

If anyone takes down Noman Ali Pakistan will be in trouble. But hard to take Noman on who is bowling very slow. Sajid was bowling rubbish half trackers and getting away.

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

Pak should win but I wouldn't be surprised if RSA manage to sneak in a 4-wicket win.

There's absolutely zero situational awareness in this team and they do not deserve to win anything. A substantially long period where they go winless or continuously at the bottom of the WTC is fully deserved.

But we've already done that. We were last and second last in the previous two WTCs

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

If anyone takes down Noman Ali Pakistan will be in trouble. But hard to take Noman on who is bowling very slow. Sajid was bowling rubbish half trackers and getting away.

Sajid has a pretty good record in the second innings. He hasn't bowled that well in this test match but I think we might see an improved performance from him with the pitch batting difficulty being at it's highest

 

[The Bald Eagle]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1977991577768231370

 

[Devadwal]

For Pakistan sake, I am hoping they do. I hate spinning tracks. What kind of lazy cricket garbage is this nonsense. It is such a coward mentality.

Back to the topic, EXTREMELY unlikely!

It's a decent pitch. The first two days were good for batting.

 

[Rana]

The only guy who concerns me is Dewald Bravis

These kind of players are unpredictable and are capable of creating their legacy at a young age.

If SA get into a territory of 100 runs to win and this guy is there, it could become scary for Pakistan

 

[tiger_khan]

Yes SA can still win because we have only two regular spinners. They will eventually get tired if wickets don't fall in a regular basis

 

[tiger_khan]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1977991577768231370

This is how cricket's internal politics works

What has Khurram Shehzad done to not be mentioned by MY? I bet you guys if KS had been playing, he would have taken at least one wicket in each innings because he is a thinking bowler

MY is being diplomatic. He can't say that Shaheen-Hasan selections are undeserving. They are only earning match fees and daily allowances.

In order to get burn out, a fast bowler actually has to bowl a significant number of overs in a game

These two fast bowlers are undeserving. Rabada is also playing this game. He has taken a couple of important wickets. He is a thorough professional. Not overrated like some of Pak players

 

[Champ_Pal]

The pressure of chasing will get to SA.

80-20 in Pak favor of winning this Test. But good comeback by SA though.

 

[Aqib_mustafa]

Yes SA can still win because we have only two regular spinners. They will eventually get tired if wickets don't fall in a regular basis

We only need two of them they will get job done third spinner is agha and he is not bad at all.

 

[sweep_shot]

They need 226 more. 8 wickets in hand.

It is doable but Pakistan are still firm favorites. I say it is 75-25 in favor of Pakistan.

 

[Ahmed216]

Seems SA are in with a chance but once this De Zorzi Rickelton partnership is broken SA will find it very difficult.

Pak need an early wicket tomorrow

 

[Savak]

Rickleton and Zorze have worked out Nauman, Sajid and Salman. Stubbs, Brevis are too good to miss out again. Brevis is going to brutally attack the spinners and completely shell shock the Pakistani side and Shan Masood will panic as he usually does and will keep sticking to the same thing again and again even when it is staring him in the face that its not working.

 

[Savak]

This is how cricket's internal politics works

What has Khurram Shehzad done to not be mentioned by MY? I bet you guys if KS had been playing, he would have taken at least one wicket in each innings because he is a thinking bowler

MY is being diplomatic. He can't say that Shaheen-Hasan selections are undeserving. They are only earning match fees and daily allowances.

In order to get burn out, a fast bowler actually has to bowl a significant number of overs in a game

These two fast bowlers are undeserving. Rabada is also playing this game. He has taken a couple of important wickets. He is a thorough professional. Not overrated like some of Pak players

The problem actually is with Shan Masood. Hasan Ali troubled zorze early in the innings and was getting a little bit of reverse swing. Even Shaheen induced an edge from Zorze. What does our brilliant educated Shan Masood do? He doesn't bowl Hassan Ali or Shaheen for the entire innings. He is too rigid as a captain and doesn't make bowling, field placement changes when the situation demands it. We have lost many games from winning positions i.e. Australia, Bangladesh, West Indies and South Africa under this guys captaincy.

 

[PakHammer]

I think Pakistan will win quite easily tomorrow. Similar to the England test series last year when England were 36-2 in Multan on day 3 of the second test chasing 297. They collapsed to 144 all out on day 4.

I say SA will be bundled out for just over 200 tomorrow. But Pakistan's batting in second innings is a concern in this test match and the previous test series against the West Indies. They need to fix that up quickly.

 

[harshjoshi87]

South Africa will be bowled out under 120 tomorrow. One wicket & there will be a collapse for the World Test Champions.

 

[Katwalindian]

Bowl hasan ali also

 

[Savak]

South Africa will be bowled out under 120 tomorrow. One wicket & there will be a collapse for the World Test Champions.

This is wishful thinking, SA bat deep and Stubbs, Brevis are not going to fall cheaply again. One excellent game changing knock and its over.

 

[pakistani pride]

So Salman is bowling here and bowling a lot....

 

[Savak]

So Salman is bowling here and bowling a lot....

To be honest, he has bowled better than Sajid. He is consistently landing the ball at the same spot ball after ball

 

[DeadlyVenom]

Pakistan should not have put themselves in this position. Regardless of the size of the lead, why were they swinging wildly with two whole days in the test match to go.

Our second batting innings has been very poor during this Shan era, and it doesn't matter what the pitches are, we have been rolled over on flat phatta against England, on a green pitch v Bangaldesh and on these spin pitches too. The players seem unable to bat properly the second time round and let the opposition into the game.

Pakistan should have still been batting tomorrow morning. That should have been the aim.

 

[pakistani pride]

To be honest, he has bowled better than Sajid. He is consistently landing the ball at the same spot ball after ball

That is my point. Yet he was scared to bowl in the Asia cup on spin wickets!

 

[tiger_khan]

The problem actually is with Shan Masood. Hasan Ali troubled zorze early in the innings and was getting a little bit of reverse swing. Even Shaheen induced an edge from Zorze. What does our brilliant educated Shan Masood do? He doesn't bowl Hassan Ali or Shaheen for the entire innings. He is too rigid as a captain and doesn't make bowling, field placement changes when the situation demands it. We have lost many games from winning positions i.e. Australia, Bangladesh, West Indies and South Africa under this guys captaincy.

I didn't see the game live

If things materialized as you described then indeed the captaincy along with the management is responsible

Shan is not a strong captain to make decisions alone. Shan can't even say a word when Shaheen pushes former's arm from the latter's shoulder during a team huddle

 

[giri26]

They can't, they will be bowled out under 200 in the first session or by the start of second session. The pitch is not a minefield but is not easy to score runs on. It is turning fast and the SA middle order isn't that experienced. Stubbs and Brevis have a decent FC records but have no experience at this level. SA's best batters are at the crease and once they are out, they will collapse like the first innings. SA clearly need Maharaj in the playing XI, if they have to challenge Pakistan on these pitches. Harmer, Muthusamy and Maharaj will be deadly on these pitches, Pakistan wouldn't have reached 378 with that combination.