Gary Kirsten hit a sparkling 118 on Monday as South Africa set Pakistan a tough target of 302 to win the second and last Test, with just one day’s play remaining.
When bad light stopped play four overs ahead of schedule, Pakistan had reached 8-0 with Taufeeq Umer on six and Imran Farhat on one.
Kirsten, batting patiently, blunted the Pakistan attack to score his 19th Test hundred and his second against Pakistan — both at the same ground.
His previous Faisalabad century, in 1997-1998, helped set Pakistan a target of 146 which they missed by 53 runs. Pakistan’s best chase in Faisalabad was 188-7 against Sri Lanka in 1991-1992.
”It’s always nice to score two hundreds at one ground, it’s something very special and the last time I got a hundred here we set up a series win against Pakistan,” Kirsten said.
”Hopefully this hundred may set up something very special for us on Tuesday,” he said.
”Kaneria bowled well and the pitch has been a good one. The wicket played even and it will be hard for us to get 10 wickets,” Kirsten added.
South African captain Graeme Smith declared the second innings on 371-8.
Kirsten (35) had fallen 15 minutes before tea when he failed to keep down a cut and was smartly snapped up by Taufeeq Umer for his sixth catch of the match.
He faced 232 deliveries during his 297-minute stay at the crease and hit 11 boundaries, adding a record 90 runs for the fifth wicket with Jacques Kallis.
Abdul Razzaq then bowled Mark Boucher for a first-ball duck before Shaun Pollock averted a hat-trick. However, Razzaq removed Kallis for 43 after tea.
South Africa passed the 350-mark courtesy of a Pollock boundary as the tourists hit out in a bid to set a difficult target.
Razzaq finished with 3-70 while Danish Kaneria and Shabbir Ahmed grabbed two wickets apiece.
Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul Haq surprisingly did not use leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed until an hour after lunch but when Mushtaq finally bowled he proved ineffective, and finished the series with only one wicket after returning from a two-and-a-half-year lay-off.
South Africa had made 278 while Pakistan managed 348 in the first innings.
Pakistan’s best run-chase to date is 315-9 against Australia in Karachi nine years ago. — Sapa-AFP