ISLAMABAD (TNS) Pakistan’s 2025-27 World Test Championship (WTC) campaign has begun with the first Test match between Pakistan and South Africa, in which the national team scored 313 runs for the loss of 5 wickets at the end of the first day of the first Test match, with Muhammad Rizwan 62 and Salman Ali Agha not out after scoring 52 runs. The first match of the 2-Test series between Pakistan and South Africa is being played at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, in which Pakistan cricket team captain Shan Masood won the toss and decided to bat first against South Africa. In the first session, the national team’s first wicket fell on the third ball, opener Abdullah Shafiq became a victim of Kagiso Rabada after scoring 2 runs. Captain Shan Masood, who came to bat at number three, played a responsible innings with Imam-ul-Haq and moved the scoreboard forward, during which both batsmen completed their half-centuries. Shan Masood was dismissed by Prenellan Cibrian after scoring 76 runs, Imam-ul-Haq could not complete his century due to a shortage of 7 runs and was dismissed by Senuran Muthusamy after scoring 93 runs. Former captain Babar Azam failed once again, he could only score 23 runs while Saud Shakeel returned to the pavilion without opening his account. ODI and T20 team captains Mohammad Rizwan and Salman Ali Agha put on a 112-run partnership for the sixth wicket, during which both batsmen also completed their half-centuries, at the end of the day Rizwan remained not out on 62 and Salman Ali on 52 runs. For South Africa, Senoran Muthusamy took 2 wickets, Kagiso Rabada, Simon Harmer and Prenellen Subrian took one wicket each. Pakistan included Sajid Khan, who has recovered from fever, in the team for the first match. He will try to trap the visiting team in the spin net along with Noman Ali, while Shaheen Shah Afridi and Hasan Ali will take charge of the fast bowling. South Africa will trouble the Pakistani batsmen with 3 spinners, Simon Harmer, Senoran Muthusamy and Prenellen Subrian, while Kagiso Rabada and Vian Milder will take charge of the fast bowling department. Pakistan’s 2025-27 World Test Championship (WTC) campaign is expected to feature a fierce competition among spin bowlers. The Shan Masood-led hosts (who finished last out of nine teams in 2023-25) need to significantly improve their performance to compete with the visiting South African team led by Aiden Markram, who won their maiden World Test Championship trophy by defeating Australia at Lord’s last year. The Gaddafi Stadium has not hosted a Test match in the previous World Test Championship, the last time the ground was used for the third Test between Pakistan and Australia in March 2022. South Africa, who toured Pakistan in 2021, lost the two-Test series 0-2 at that time. Before the match, Shan Masood said that taking 20 wickets is the key to winning the series, rather than making big scores, we do not want flat pitches where matches are drawn.
In his press conference Aiden Markram admitted that Pakistan had planned to develop spin-friendly wickets, and said that as a team that has not played much in these conditions, it is an exciting and valuable opportunity for us to test our skills here.
Pakistan team; Shan Masood (captain), Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafiq, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Salman Ali Agha, Saud Shakeel, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Noman Ali, Sajid Khan; South Africa team; Aiden Markram (captain), Dewald Brewers, Tony de Zorzi, Simon Harmer, Wian Mulder, Senoran Muthusamy, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickleton, Tristan Stubbs, Prenellen Subrian, Kyle Verney; Match umpires are Chris Brown (New Zealand) and Rod Tucker (Australia), TV umpire: Sharafudullah Saikat (Bangladesh), and match referee Ranjan Madugalle (Sri Lanka).
