Rehman thwarts SA’s hopes

South Africa close the fourth day at 173-4, for an overal­l lead of 323.

ABU DHABI: Pakistan left-arm spinner Abdul Rehman took three wickets and scored his maiden half-century to foil South Africa’s attempts to win the second Test at Abu Dhabi Stadium.

Rehman checked South Africa’s quest for quick runs in order to set a target for Pakistan with wickets of Alvior Petersen (35), Hashim Amla (62) and AB de Villiers (25) before South Africa closed the fourth day at 173 for four, for an overall lead of 323.

Earlier, Rehman scored a career-best 60 to help Pakistan score 434 in their first-innings in reply to South Africa’s mammoth 584 for nine declared - the first time Pakistan crossed the 400-mark in a Test this year.

South Africa started on a positive note when they dismissed Pakistan captain Misbahul Haq for 77 off the first delivery of the day, trapped leg-before by paceman Dale Steyn. Rehman then became Pakistan’s last hope, adding 36 for the eighth wicket with Umar Gul, who scored 21, to bring Pakistan closer to avoiding follow-on.

Steyn remains confident of win

Steyn, brimming with confidence, remained confident that South Africa could push for the win on the final day, targeting the key wickets of Younus Khan and Misbah to pull off the win.

“We’re still confident that we can pull it off with the ball as the pitch is generating a lot of turn,” said Steyn. “It’s not a great pitch to bowl on but if we manage to get some quick runs, we can set a target and pull off the win.

“We’ve done extremely well as our bowlers toiled hard but we stuck to our plan, did nothing wrong, bowled in the right areas and executed our game-plan effectively. Our batsmen have not let us down and now it comes down to the bowlers to get us past the finish line.”

Rehman shines for Pakistan

Similarly, Rehman, who was the stand-out performer for Pakistan on the fourth day with an all-round show, remains optimistic of saving the match.

“I’m happy that my performance saved my team in the first-innings and hopefully we’ll be able to save this Test because only the odd ball is spinning so there isn’t too much danger out there,” he said. “It was a great day for me. I scored runs when my team needed and I bowled well for the team.

“I struggled with the new ball a bit but only until I got my first wicket. The previous days weren’t that helpful for the bowlers but today, as I varied the pace, it helped me get a lot of turn from the pitch.”

Rehman hit eight boundaries and a six during his fighting, 139-ball knock, improving on his best score of 25 not out made against the same opponents in Lahore three years ago.

He was the last man out, trapped leg-before by Johan Botha. (WITH ADDITIONAL REPORTING FROM AFP)

Smith injures finger again

Graeme Smith faces a race against time to get fit for next month’s Test against India after suffering an undisplaced fracture. He could not bat in South Africa’s second innings after spraining his right thumb and recurrence of his left hand finger injury. “The doctor said it will take two to three weeks rest to heal,” said team manager Mohammad Moosajee.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 24^th, 2010.