Visitors outlast, outclass

Makhaya Ntini and Shaun Pollock bowled themselves almost literally to a standstill in a heroic attempt to save the second Test against Pakistan at St George's Park on Monday.

In the end it was to no avail as Pakistan won by five wickets with just over four sessions to spare to level the series at 1-1 and leave everything to be played for in Friday's final Test at Newlands.

But the South Africans were still very much in the hunt when Pollock and Ntini each took a wicket in the half-hour after lunch, those being the key wickets of Mohammad Yousuf and Inzamam-ul-Haq respectively. It left the visitors with 99 runs still to get and only Younis Khan at the crease of their senior batsmen.

At that stage Pollock and Ntini were operating in perfect harmony as the only two bowlers to put real pressure on the batsmen.

The match might still have swung South Africa's way as Pollock, by then almost on his knees, found the outside edge of Kamran Akmal's bat three times in the space of five deliveries, only to see the lot of them find gaps in the slip cordon at comfortable catching height and speed away to the boundary for 12 unneeded runs.

To add insult to injury, when Graeme Smith did put a fourth fielder into the cordon Akmal promptly edged a delivery that went to Herschelle Gibbs on the bounce.

It was to be Pollock's last gallant effort and, when both he and Ntini were rested, there was nobody else who could apply anything like the same pressure. If Pollock and Ntini look tired, André Nel looks a couple of degrees worse and is probably even more in need of rest than the other two.

With the two aces gone from Smith's hand, the Pakistanis quickly sensed the kill to the extent that Younis and Akmal added 99 in an unbroken partnership to reach the victory target just before tea in 83 minutes with 12 boundaries.

Smith was not able to bring Pollock back and it was sad to see a spent Ntini, who always gives such yeoman service, spanked for 19 runs in his last three overs.

He did not deserve it.

Akmal deserves full credit for the way he chanced his arm to take the momentum away from the South Africans, but the real hero was Younis, who added an unbeaten 67 to his 45 of the first innings.

The tension in the morning session when both Pollock and Ntini were at their best was visible for all to see even if it wasn't audible. There was a minor confrontation between Pollock and Younis at one stage and the fact that Pakistan had one run out and nearly a second before lunch when they had a full two days to reach their target was testimony to the pressure their batsmen were feeling.

That was where Younis was outstanding. He gave only one chance on 5 with the total a wavering 51/3 when Pollock dropped a difficult return chance that dropped like a stone and came to him at barely ankle height. It was obviously vital although, in truth, the Proteas lost the game on the first day when they did not score enough runs or bat for long enough.

Thereafter, they were always chasing the game and in the end the 10th-wicket partnership between man-of-the-match Inzamam-ul-Haq and Mohammad Asif, who was also a candidate, put the game beyond the reach of a spirited fightback.