Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq put his side in control on the second day of the second Test against South Africa at St George's Park on Saturday.
Updated at 10.40pm
PORT ELIZABETH: Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq put his side in control on the second day of the second Test against South Africa at St George's Park on Saturday.
Inzamam made an unbeaten 92 as Pakistan took a first innings lead of 141. Then he held a diving catch at first slip to dismiss opposing captain Graeme Smith off Mohammad Asif when the home side batted again.
At stumps, South Africa had reached 115-3, a deficit of 26 runs after they also lost the struggling AB de Villiers, clean bowled by Asif, for 15 and Hashim Amla, also beaten for pace by Mohammad Sami for 16.
Ashwell Prince should have been back in the pavilion but Kamran Akmal missed an easy stumping chance when the batsman had reached 17.
It was a notable performance by Pakistan, trailing the series 1-0, as they took the field for South Africa's second innings without spearhead Shoaib Akhtar who was injured while batting.
Shoaib, who was earlier seen in television pictures in an apparent verbal altercation with Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer, was said to have gone for a scan on a left hamstring injury.
The tourists' dominance also overshadowed South African paceman Makhaya Ntini reaching the 300 Test wicket milestone. Inzamam batted at number eight after being off the field for much of South Africa's dismal first innings of 124 after being hit in the left shoulder by a ball during fielding practice before the start of play on Friday.
The Pakistan captain came out to bat at the start of play Saturday with his team tottering at 135 for six. Sami helped him add 31 for the seventh wicket and Inzamam skillfully farmed the strike to the frustration of the South African bowlers.
Inzamam was at his best in a last wicket stand of 74 with Mohammad Asif, the best partnership of the match, with Asif having to face only nine balls out of 61 before lunch as Inzamam seemed easily to be able to score off the fifth or sixth balls of overs.
Asif eventually faced 29 balls out of 122, the last of which uprooted his off stump as Ntini finished with six for 59.
Ntini, 29, earlier took his milestone wicket when he had Mohammad Sami caught behind off an inside edge. He became the 21st bowler in Tests and the third South African to reach the mark.
He unveiled a tee-shirt which proclaimed, "Mdingi Express 300" with the nickname coming from the Eastern Cape village in which he was born. It completed Ntini's 17th five-wicket haul in Tests.
Inzamam was fortunate to survive an appeal for a catch behind off Andre Nel when he was on 13 in the over after Sami's dismissal. The ball went through to wicketkeeper Mark Boucher off Inzamam's pad and umpire Peter Parker gave him not out. But slow motion replays showed that he got an inside edge to the ball before it brushed his pad.
Inzamam was dropped on 35. An attempted hook shot against Jacques Kallis ballooned off his glove but Boucher, leaping high to his left, could only get the tip of his left glove to the ball.
Pakistan's ninth wicket fell at 191 when Inzamam was on 31 and he added another 61 runs before the last wicket fell.
Scorecard
South Africa (1st innings) 124
Pakistan (1st innings) 265
South Africa (2nd innings)
G Smith c Inzamam b Mohammad Asif 10
A de Villiers b Mohammad Asif 15
H Amla b Mohammad Sami 16
J Kallis batting 50
A Prince batting 21
Extras (nb-3) 3
Total (3 wkts; 52 overs) 115
Fall of wickets: 1-18, 2-30, 3-61
Bowling: Mohammad Asif 16-6-32-2, Mohammad Sami 12-4-31-1, Danish Kaneria 19-6-35-0, Imran Farhat 5-0-17-0
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