Updated World Test Championship Points Table After Pakistan Beat South Africa In Lahore

Pakistan produced a brilliant fightback to beat South Africa by 93 runs in the First Test of the two-match series at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on Wednesday. South Africa were handed the task of completing a record chase of 277 runs in Lahore after they bowled out Shan Masood's men for 167 in the second innings. Despite opening batsman Ryan Rickelton's watchful 45 off 145 balls, South Africa struggled to put partnerships together. Dewald Brevis hammered a 54-ball 54 but was undone by Pakistan's chief orchestrator of wickets, Noman Ali.

Courtesy of the victory in the series opener, Pakistan climbed to the second spot in the World Test Championship (WTC) points table. Pakistan, with one win in one match, have a PCT (Points Conceded by a Team) of 100, which puts them behind Australia in the WTC standings. The Australians also have a PCT of 100 but have played three games so far, winning all of them. Following Pakistan are Sri Lanka, with one win and one draw in two matches (PCT of 66.67). Completing the top five are India (PCT of 61.9) and England (43.33), respectively.

ICC World Test Championship Points Table:

With the match being played on a spin-favouring pitch, the contest saw Pakistani spinners, particularly Noman Ali, dominate. Pakistan set a challenging target of 277 after posting scores of 378 and 167 in their two innings. Key batting contributions for the hosts came in the first innings from Imam-ul-Haq (93), Shan Masood (76), Mohammad Rizwan (75), and Salman Agha (93).

South Africa struggled to cope with the turning conditions, especially on the fourth day. While they were bowled out for 269 in their first innings, anchored by a superb century from Tony de Zorzi (104), their attempt to chase 277 in the final innings never looked on course. The tourists were eventually bundled out for 183. Pakistan's victory was sealed by the exceptional bowling efforts of left-arm spinner Noman Ali, who finished the match with 10 wickets, including 6/112 in the first innings and 4/79 in the second.

Fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi also helped with four wickets in the final innings while Sajid Khan pitched in with two scalps. Despite an outstanding individual performance from South African spinner Senuran Muthusamy, who took a match haul of 11 wickets (6/117 and 5/57), his efforts went in vain.

Topics mentioned in this article

India Cricket Team Pakistan Cricket Team South Africa Cricket Team Cricket