‌SA vs PAK | Twitter reacts to Rickelton and Bavuma ton irritate Pakistan on opening day

Arijit Kundu

ByArijit Kundu, SportsCafe Editor

24
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South Africa have stockpiled 316 runs for the loss of three wickets on the opening day of the New Year’s Test against Pakistan. Centuries from Ryan Rickelton and Temba Bavuma made the visitor bowlers toil hard but they will have to aim to strike with the second new ball on the second day.

Having already cemented a spot in the World Test Championship Finals, South Africa won the toss and chose to bat first to make the most out of the bright conditions. The ploy synced with the new opening duo of Ryan Rickelton and Aiden Markram with the former not hesitating to execute his strokes. The white-ball skipper continued his cautious approach from where he started in the series as the fifty runs stand came up in the twelfth over. The partnership grew to 61 before Khurram Shahzad’s arrival brought down curtains for Markram in the 16th over. Returning Wiaan Mulder and Tristan Stubbs followed back to the hut quickly at the cusp of Lunch but Rickelton’s fifty kept South Africa moving with 72/3 in 22.5 overs.

Temba Bavuma accompanied Rickelton in the middle and played second fiddle to the attacking strokes from the left-hander. The pair quickly brought up a fifty runs partnership and converted it to a century stand after the Drinks Break with the left-hander smashing a century. However, run-scoring was slow against the spinners in the latter half of the session as the pair collected just 43 runs in 13 overs with the scorecard reflecting 184/3 in 50 overs at Tea. 

The pair didn’t hesitate to play some aerial strokes after South Africa surpassed the 200-run mark. The pair quickly brought up the team 200 before showing aggressive signs with the bat. However, they were watchful against the spinners with Rickleton getting to the 150 run mark and Bavuma completing yet another century with an enthusiastic celebration in the second half of the innings. The 300 runs mark came up next for the Proteas and the partnership stayed unbridled with 316/4 in 80 overs at Stumps.

 Proteas lead

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