Pakistan 64 for 3 (Babar 31*, Ghulam 12, Rabada 2-9) Trail South Africa 615 (Rickelton 259, Verreynne 100, Jansen 62, Abbas 3-94) for 551 runs

After taking command before lunch, South Africa tore Pakistan to shreds in the afternoon. Rickelton finished with 259, just shy of Stephen Fleming’s 262 as the highest score at Newlands. Verreynne brought up his fourth Test hundred. Jansen, who was out of form with the bat throughout 2024, rang in the new year with a storming half-century. Six fours and three sixes helped him reach the target in 42 balls. A whopping 137 runs were added in the second session, with South Africa climbing 7 runs to 566, which is already their highest home score in four years.

Pakistan fought on bravely but their efforts never looked like they were bearing fruit on a wicket that had long since gone flat and batters that had long since settled down. Much of the second session became a milestone exercise. Verreynne continued the aggression that had flared up in the first session, a boundary off Mohammad Abbas and a single off the next ball bringing triple figures. It got Newlands back on its feet again; They may have sore legs because of the frequency with which they have had to do this.

Salman Ali Agha struck next and edged him out as Verreynne went for a labored swing, but that did little to slow South Africa’s momentum. Without the pressure of the scoreboard, Jansen let his natural talent do the talking, swinging freely and controlling shots beautifully. It took him 11 balls to hit the mark, but once he did, there was no stopping him. Two fours and a six off Khurram Shahzad in two consecutive overs helped reach the 50 partnership in 46 balls, while Rickelton and Jansen hit sixes each against Salman.

Pakistan finally saw Rickelton’s back before tea was called. After hitting Mir Hamza four times over the head, he top-edged the next ball to Abbas, who hung on to send it on its way, but not before almost doubling his Test tally in an innings.

In the morning, Rickelton became the first South African in eight years to score a Test double hundred as South Africa cemented their hold on the Test. Pakistan began the session promisingly, taking to the new ball straight away and striking within four overs when Abbas tempted David Bedingham into a drive outside off-stump, producing an outside edge. It gave Pakistan a lead but Rickelton simply continued the discipline that took him into the game on an unbeaten 176 overnight. He was wary of the long deliveries and rejected anything else.

Verreynne, on the other hand, was less demanding in his shot selection, a hook over Abbas’s wide backwards betraying his intentions. It was a shot that defined the session for him; In the same vein, he hit another two sixes off Jamal in the last over before lunch. When Shan Masood took three fielders close to cover, he still found a way to penetrate them through that area against Hamza, whose attempts at cover attacks were successful, but not in the way he would hope had.

At the other end, Rickelton reached his double hundred with a strike through the offside and stormed into the middle of the field in celebration. But the highlights all belonged to Verreynne, who greeted Salman with a reverse sweep for four off the second ball and another at the end of the over-off. Before the session was over, Verreynne had defeated Jamal by plundering 17 runs in one over.

Pakistan finally managed to complete the innings after more than 140 overs under the hot Newland sun, ending with pleasing symmetry as they had begun. Abbas hit top of off to beat back the stumps of debutant Kwena Maphaka, just as ball tracking would have predicted Abbas would have done it with the first ball of the innings had Aiden Markram’s pad not been in the way.

But once they started batting, they almost wished South Africa’s innings didn’t end. Masood couldn’t miss the first pass and pushed for a Rabada advance, but it took away the outside edge. Saud Shakeel fell in much the same way as he uncharacteristically headed towards Rabada, with the same cross attack made to the same slip fielder, with David Bedingham making no mistake.

At times, additional pace and bounce from Jansen forced Kamran Ghulam into an awkward position that resulted in his stumps being scattered behind him.

South Africa’s opening salvo was so menacing and the Pakistan batsmen were so listless that it felt like the hosts might find themselves on the back foot tonight. But Babar Azam, who opened in Ayub’s absence, struggled alongside Mohammad Rizwan and South Africa’s substitute bowlers were not quite at the devastating level of Rabada and Jansen.

It helped Pakistan to ensure that they ended a day that had no redeeming aspects in the hope that the next one might delay the inevitable for a while longer.