Paceman Asif tears Proteas apart

Mohammad Asif spearheaded and inspired Pakistan's three-man attack to a heroic performance at St George's Park that has set them up to win the second Test and square the three-match series at 1-1.

At the close of play last night the visitors had all 10 second innings wickets safely intact and needed only a further 183 runs for what would be only their second Test match victory ever on South African soil.

It is a well-founded view that Pakistan normally need a crisis to bring the best out of their multi-talented but often erratic squad. And Shoaib Akhtar, who had virtually presented the Proteas' head on a plate to skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq with his first innings bowling effort, ensured the crisis when he broke down with a thigh strain injury under as yet unexplained circumstances.

The crisis was further highlighted when TV footage at the start of Saturday's play showed what was clearly a major confrontation between Shoaib and Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer.

Asif was certainly the man for the occasion and he confirmed the view that he is one of the emerging stars of world cricket. He is playing only his eighth Test match, but is already averaging more than five wickets a Test and has an average of a fraction over 21.

Less than a year ago he took 11 wickets to bowl Pakistan to a famous series-winning victory over Sri Lanka at Kandy, and he also bowled Pakistan into a winning position in the notorious abandoned Test at The Oval in London last year.

He is currently living under the threat of 12 months away from the game following his suspension by the Pakistan Cricket Board over a positive drugs test and, whatever the merits or demerits of that case, it will be a loss to the international game if his career has to be put on hold.

He appealed successfully against the PCB verdict and sentence, but the matter is now being appealed by the World Anti-Doping Agency to the Council for Arbitration in Sport which could result in the ban being reimposed.

Although Asif is primarily a swing bowler, there is a great similarity between him and Australia's Glenn McGrath in terms of his economical run-up and action. Yesterday he bowled brilliantly with the second new ball, doing a bit both through the air and off the pitch on his way to his fourth five-wicket haul and a tally already of 44 wickets.

Like all top performers he has the knack of reserving his best balls for the opposition's best batsmen. Twice already in this series he has dismissed Graeme Smith with outstanding deliveries and the way he took it to Jacques Kallis and Herschelle Gibbs after lunch in what was a key moment of the match was absolutely superb.

He got the better of Gibbs with four deliveries in one over - twice he appealed for leg before wicket, then he beat the inside edge and finally had his man caught off the outside edge at second slip.

Kallis is not often dismissed in the 90s - in fact, yesterday was only the fourth time in his career - but he met his match in Asif, who got one to come back slightly off the seam, beat the inside edge of the forward defensive shot and hit South Africa's premier batsman squarely on the pad in front of his stumps.

There was never much doubt that umpire Peter Parker was going to raise his index finger.

Asif rounded off his five-wicket haul by dismissing Mark Boucher, always a difficult opponent in tight situations. More than that, he bowled 22 overs in the day out of a possible 37 that he could have bowled had he operated non-stop.

He was desperately tired at the finish of the innings and his figures would have looked a lot better than 5/76 if it hadn't been for some lusty hitting by André Nel and Makhaya Ntini, whose 41-run last-wicket partnership may still turn out to be extremely valuable.

At the height of his second new ball spell - 2/20 in 10 overs - he looked as though he might finish the match inside three days.

He also rid himself of the no-ball problem that had plagued him at Centurion. It is incidentally something that has not troubled him before and he told coach Woolmer that it was caused by the high altitude that was giving him a longer take-off stride! So he is not only a good bowler but an inventive one as well.

If Asif was the undoubted star of the Pakistan attack, then Mohammad Sami was the unluckiest one.

He always bowled with pace and aggression and his Yorker to castle Hashim Amla on Saturday afternoon was arguably the best delivery of the match. He deserved a lot better than 1/90.

The third member of the attack, Danish Kaneria, was forced to fill the role of stock bowler and he also got through 19 overs in the day.

In the end he was rewarded for his perseverance with four wickets as he cleaned up the tail.

Although the odds clearly favour Pakistan, the match is by no means done and dusted.

There is still a bit in the pitch and the South Africans do at least know what the pressure is like chasing down a total in the region of 200 in the fourth innings as they have had to do just that in their last two Test match victories over India and Pakistan.

They will also draw inspiration from the famous series-winning victory at Faisalabad in 1997 when Pakistan needed no more than 150 to win, but ended up losing by nearly 50 runs.

On that occasion Shaun Pollock took five wickets, four of them coming in the space of 10 balls, and he may well be the man for the moment again.

It will mean that every half-chance will have to be taken and, if that is the case, Pakistan will end up rueing the performance of wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal, who has let no fewer than six chances slip in this match.

The life he gave to Kallis on 63 off the bowling of Kaneria may turn out to be particularly significant.