Imam-ul-Haq struck a composed 93 and Mohammad Rizwan hit an unbeaten 62 as Pakistan reached 313 for 5 on the opening day of the first Test against South Africa in Lahore on Sunday.
On a spin-friendly pitch at Gaddafi Stadium, the hosts suffered a brief collapse after a strong start but recovered well through a vital 114-run stand between Rizwan and Salman Agha, who ended the day unbeaten on 52.
Shan Masood contributed 76 in a 161-run partnership with Haq for the second wicket, but Pakistan stumbled from 163 for 1 to 199 for 5 as four wickets fell for just 36 runs, including three in quick succession around the tea interval.
Playing his first Test since December 2023, Haq was disappointed to fall short of a century.
“We have batted us to a good position,” he said. “We must score over 400 to get us in a strong position. Regarding missing a hundred, that’s always disappointing.”
Masood’s innings, which included nine fours and a six, ended when he was trapped leg-before by spinner Prenelan Subrayen. Soon after, Senuran Muthusamy struck twice, removing Haq for 93 and then dismissing Saud Shakeel for a duck with the very next ball to make it 199 for 4 at tea.
The collapse continued after the break when local favourite Babar Azam was trapped lbw by Simon Harmer for 23, leaving the crowd of around 10,000 visibly disappointed.
South Africa missed key opportunities to tighten their grip, dropping Masood on 61 and Haq on 72 — both chances going down off the bowling of Subrayen.
Despite the lapse in the field, Harmer remained optimistic about limiting Pakistan’s total.
“We had a good day and now need to take positives from today and keep Pakistan under 400,” he said. “That would be great because this pitch will take more spin as the match progresses.”
Rizwan, composed and resilient, struck two fours and two sixes in bringing up his 12th Test half-century. Agha supported him well with two fours and a six to reach his 10th Test fifty.
Earlier in the day, Masood won the toss and opted to bat, expecting the pitch to deteriorate. Pakistan included spinners Noman Ali and Sajid Khan in the playing XI.
South Africa struck early when pace spearhead Kagiso Rabada trapped Abdullah Shafique leg-before wicket with the third ball of the day, but the visitors could not capitalise further in the opening session. All three South African spinners, Subrayen, Harmer and Muthusamy,were used before lunch, but Haq’s fluent strokeplay took Pakistan to 107 for 1 at the break.
This match is the first of a two-Test series and forms part of the new World Test Championship cycle. South Africa are coming off a title win in June after defeating Australia in the final.
