South Africa vs Pakistan 2nd Test, Day 4 Live Score

Marco Jansen to Salman Agha, With just one slip and a gully and an additonal catching cover, Jansen lands it outside off, on a fuller length, inviting the drive. Salman Agha lets it pass. 

Marco Jansen to Mohammad Rizwan, Full, wide outside off, going away from the batter, Rizwan steers it to sweeper cover for a single.

Marco Jansen to Mohammad Rizwan, Slightly fuller than good length, around middle and leg, angling in, Mohammad Rizwan tries to push it off the front foot. He gets it through the inner half of the blade to mid on.

Marco Jansen to Salman Agha, Back of a length, around off and middle, from around the wicket, Salman Agha guides it to deep point and takes a single to start the over.

Last year, that's January 2024, when a Test match between South Africa and India was played here, the entire match lasted just 107 overs across 4 innings. Here, Pakistan have crossed that mark in this innings alone.

Keshav Maharaj to Mohammad Rizwan, Full, at the stumps, blocked out by Rizwan.

Keshav Maharaj to Salman Agha, Risky run! Full, on off, Salman Agha taps it to cover and the batters set off for quick single. The fielder collects the ball and fires it to Kyle Verreynne, the keeper and Rizwan has to put in a full stretch dive to make it. 

Keshav Maharaj to Salman Agha, FOUR! The trail is now down to single digits. 7 to be precise! Tossed up, on middle, Salman Agha sweeps it from well in front and hits it aerially over square leg for a boundary.

Keshav Maharaj to Salman Agha, Much fuller, around middle, Agha blocks it out off the front foot.

Keshav Maharaj to Salman Agha, Tossed up, around off, from around the wicket, Salman Agha drives it to mid off from the front foot.

Keshav Maharaj to Mohammad Rizwan, Drops it short, around off, Mohammad Rizwan makes room and cuts it to deep point for a single to start the over. He is into the 40s.

Marco Jansen to Mohammad Rizwan, Fuller in length, on off, Rizwan times his punch through covers for a single. The trail is now down to 12 runs.

Marco Jansen to Salman Agha, Full and outside off, driven to deep point for one by Salman.

Marco Jansen to Mohammad Rizwan, On a length, on off, Rizwan opens the bat face and taps it behind square on the off for a single.

Marco Jansen to Mohammad Rizwan, Good length again, around off, Mohammad Rizwan presents the full face of the bat to block it. A confident defense off the front foot.

Marco Jansen to Mohammad Rizwan, Slightly fuller than the previous one, around middle, angling in, Rizwan keeps it down with ease.

Marco Jansen to Mohammad Rizwan, On a good length, around off, coming in, Mohammad Rizwan defends it back to the bowler off the front foot.

Keshav Maharaj to Salman Agha, Pushed through a bit quicker and fuller, on off, Agha manages to block it late.

Keshav Maharaj to Salman Agha, Tossed up, on off, Salman skips to the pitch of the ball and lofts it off the cue end. Gets enough to get it over mid-wicket for a brace.

Keshav Maharaj to Salman Agha, Full, on middle, Salman Agha sweeps it to backward square leg. 

Keshav Maharaj to Mohammad Rizwan, Drops it short, just outside off, Rizwan goes back in the crease and guides it to deep point for a single.

Keshav Maharaj to Mohammad Rizwan, FOUR! DISPATCHED! Flighted full ball, around middle and off, angling in, Mohammad Rizwan goes on his knees and sweeps it to deep backward square leg for a boundary. First one of this session. 400 comes up for Pakistan as they are trailing by 18 runs now.

Keshav Maharaj to Mohammad Rizwan, Tossed up, around off, from around the wicket, Rizwan blocks it off the front foot.

Marco Jansen to Salman Agha, A huge shout for LBW, turned down by the umpire. Oh, just as the timer ticked on, Temba Bavuma decides to send it upstairs, on the very last second. He didn't look very convinced and was seen checking with somebody if there was a nick. The replay confirms just that. A big spike on the UltraEdge and South Africa lose the review. It was a great ball from Jansen! Angling in, on a length, a bit to jag back in as well. Salman Agha leaned to block and got an inside edge back onto the pad. Unsure why they went upstairs when no one seemed to be confident. 

Marco Jansen to Salman Agha, Fuller this time and closer to the batter, still outside off and Salman is happy to let it pass. 

Marco Jansen to Salman Agha, Comes from wider on the crease and lands it outside off, on a length, left alone by the batter.

Marco Jansen to Salman Agha, BEATEN! Good length, outside off, straightens off the deck, Salman Agha tries to punch it off the back foot with no foot movement. He gets beaten on the outside edge as the ball sails through to the keeper.

Marco Jansen to Salman Agha, Back of a length, around off, Salman keeps it down off the back foot.

Marco Jansen to Mohammad Rizwan, Good length, around middle, coming in, from around the wicket, Mohammad Rizwan tucks it to square leg and takes a quick single. He wants to go for double but is sent back by Salman.

A very slow over from Maharaj. He has been struggling with the ball speeds for the last few hours now. The speeds have dropped into the low 70s (kph) now. He was bowling in the high 80s in the morning. MARCO JANSEN has been given the ball now. 19-0-85-2 so far.

Keshav Maharaj to Salman Agha, Looped up, around off, Agha works it to cover.

Keshav Maharaj to Salman Agha, Full, on off, Salman Agha lunges to keep it out.

Keshav Maharaj to Salman Agha, Full, at the stumps, Salman defends it down the track, back to the bowler. 

Keshav Maharaj to Salman Agha, Tossed up, around off and middle, from around the wicket, Agha blocks it off the front foot right under his eyes.

Keshav Maharaj to Salman Agha, Corrects his line to stumps, full, Salman defends it back to the bowler.

Keshav Maharaj to Salman Agha, On a nagging length, down leg, Salman Agha tucks it to short leg.

Welcome back after that short break. South Africa would be tired, having bowled more than 100 overs, in addition to the 54-odd in the first innings. That's 155 overs nearly, on the trot. But the motivation for them is that once they break this Rizwan-Agha stand, there isn't much batting left for the tourists. Yes, an innings defeat seems a bit difficult now, but a Day 4 finish is still on. How long can Rizwan and Agha frustrate the hosts?  The players are back on the field. It will be Keshav Maharaj to start things off for the final session. Of the day or of the match? We shall find out. 35-3-97-0 so far.

... DAY 4, FINAL SESSION ...

36 overs are left in the day. 2-and-a-half hours allotted - whichever comes first. Pakistan will aim to bat deep and take the lead past 50 by Stumps. On the other hand, South Africa will be searching for that one wicket, which could hasten this match into completion. The third session is scheduled to begin at 1330 GMT.

Kwena Maphaka and Kagiso Rabada have been the standout bowlers for South Africa in this session. Both dismissed the set batters, Shakeel and Masood and beat the bat plenty of times. The others have been doing okay, beating the bat but not as consistenty as the two 'Ks' did. For some reason, Keshav Maharaj, after starting the day so well with the other ball, has lost his mojo. He is still landing it in the right areas but not as consistently as he was in the morning session.

South Africa might feel as if they are being tested a lot by the pitch here. Barring that quick dismissal of Shan Masood post that of Saud Shakeel, they have just not been able to pick wickets in clusters. One of the main reasons is definitely the pitch, which has shown some signs of assistance from the bowlers' footmarks but remains a good one to bat in general. The other reason is that once the new ball gets softer, batting becomes easier. This second ball is roughly 21 overs old, so it would still have something in it at least for the next half an hour or so.

We feared that we may not see the final session on Day 4. South Africa came out firing after Lunch and in the span of 4 balls, removed both the set batters, Shakeel and Masood. At that stage, it seemed like a batting collapse was certainly on the cards but Mohammad Rizwan and Salman Agha have held really firm with a solid 69-run stand. Agha has looked the more solid of the two while Rizwan, though a bit mercurial by his defensive shots, has still managed to fight it out there.

Pakistan continue to stay alive in this contest. A big dream of fighting hard and giving some competition to South Africa. A smaller dream to avoid an innings defeat. A mini dream to take this into Day 5. 86 runs were scored in that second session, in 26 overs, for the loss of Saud Shakeel and Shan Masood.

Last ball before Tea coming up...

Wiaan Mulder to Mohammad Rizwan, Landed outside off, gentle away swing, Mohammad gets a big stride and shoulders arms. TEA ON DAY 4, PAKISTAN ARE 398/5, TRAIL BY 23!

Wiaan Mulder to Mohammad Rizwan, Full and just outside off, Rizwan defends solidly.

Wiaan Mulder to Salman Agha, On a good length, outside off, SA reaches out for the ball and pushes it through point for a single.

Wiaan Mulder to Salman Agha, Similar line, this time Salman lets it be.

Wiaan Mulder to Salman Agha, Nearly. On a fuller length, outside off, Agha is drawn forward to defend and nearly edges this to the keeper.

Wiaan Mulder to Mohammad Rizwan, Excellent effort by Kwena Maphaka and he receives a warm round of applause by his school teammates who have come here to cheer him. A length ball, down the leg side, Mohammad Rizwan misses his clip. The ball goes off his pads through fine leg but Maphaka tracks it down from deep backward square leg, gets to the ball with a full-length dive and pushes it away. The third umpire wants to check for the boundary but the 18-year old is clean. Three runs taken, leg byes signalled.