Amla & de Villiers Dominate

Amla made 92

South Africa finished the first day of the final Test against Pakistan in a handsome position and again it was the serial run offenders, Hashim Amla and AB deVilliers who did the business. Coming together at 3-107, they added 79 together but it was the work they did either side of their partnership which ensured South Africa's success.

Amla was in early, with Alviro Petersen failing in what has been, for him, a lean series. His 75 runs have used up five innings. Graeme Smith scratched around for nine overs before debutante Eshan Adil got him with the third ball of his Test career, caught superbly by Younis Khan diving from second slip in front of first. It was something out of the senior man's early pages. Faf du Plessis, up the order to replace the missing Jacques Kallis, stayed with Amla for 69 before Eshan got a second, taking a faint edge to the keeper. du Plessis, a man of the old school, walked.

Amla dominated the partnership with de Villiers and looked certain to raise his 20th Test hundred but drove loosely at Rahat and was caught behind eight runs short. Dean Elgar was lbw to Rahat just before tea, wasting a review on a delivery that was clearly going to hit the stumps.

de Villiers is 98 not out

If Pakistan had shared the honours for the middle session by virtue of late wickets, the last session was all South Africa. The only casualty was Robin Petersen, promoted to bat at seven after his second Test heroics. After quickly getting to 28, he took off for a run that was never there, was rightly sent back by de Villers but was well short when Ifran scored a direct hit at the bowlers end. With Vernon Philander batting robustly again in the tail and de Villiers guiding proceedings, South Africa completed a day which had been mostly theirs.

de Villers shouldn't have too much trouble adding the two runs he needs for his 16th Test century when play resumes at Super Sport Park in Centurion in the morning. If the wicket keeping duties are bothering him, there is no sign of it affecting his batting.