Know the Pakistan national cricket team vs South Africa national cricket team match scorecard at Rawalpindi. But this match, on the South Africa tour of Pakistan, provided four days of riveting Test cricket that clearly tilted in the Proteas’ favour. Pakistan concluded the series with a commanding 8-wicket victory in the two-match series, thanks to their spin duo that took a tally of 17 wickets between them and left the batters out there lad at sea for answers they never found.
Match Overview: The Numbers That Describe the Game
| 1st Innings | 2nd Innings | |
| Pakistan | 333 all out (113.4 overs) | 138 all out (49.3 overs) |
| South Africa | 404 all out (119.3 overs) | 73/2 (12.3 overs) |
Result: South Africa won by 8 wickets.
Venue: Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium
Player of the Match: Keshav Maharaj
Those four lines sum up the heart of what happened. Pakistan made a decent total in its first innings, South Africa easily eclipsed it, and then — crushingly — bowled Pakistan out for just 138 in its second before chasing down the 68 runs needed before the sun had barely moved across Day 4 sky.
Pakistan’s First Innings: A Platform That Never Got Built Upon
Pakistan came out with intent. Captain Shan Masood, who top-scored with a resilient 87 and laid the foundation required by his side, while Saud Shakeel contributed a measured 66 in the middle order. These were the innings of two batsmen who knew the surface and Test cricket’s demands.
But for all their individual efforts, Pakistan were all out for 333 in 113.4 overs — a creditable score, but one that would turn out to be far from enough. Keshav Maharaj was the chief architect of Pakistan’s dismissal, his returns reading 7 for 102 to tell the story of a spinner in supreme control. Maharaj mixed his pace, turning the ball deceptively, and finding enough on the surface to expose batters who should have known better several times. It is extraordinary to take seven wickets in an innings at this level; doing so while conceding just over 100 runs across a long Pakistan innings underlined his relentless accuracy.
South Africa’s First Innings: A Match-Winning Lead
If Pakistan figured that 333 might be competitive, South Africa swiftly proved otherwise. The Proteas’ 404 all out in 119.3 overs took them to a first-innings advantage of 71 — not insurmountable alone, but potentially decisive on a pitch that was starting to reveal its personality.
What came with the bat was anything but typical. It was Senuran Muthusamy (89), Tristan Stubbs (76) and — incredibly — Kagiso Rabada (71) who did the heavy lifting in the middle and lower order. That Rabada, South Africa’s spearhead of pace, added 71 runs was an extraordinary bonus. It highlighted the quality and depth of this Proteas batting line-up and their ability to knuckle down when their top order didn’t click into fifth gear. Pakistan’s bowlers will have been disappointed; South Africa’s tail didn’t so much wag as it roared.
The 71-run lead might have looked meager, but on a surface that was beginning to turn and provide variable bounce, it was a figure that would pile the pressure on Pakistan immensely.
Turning Point: Pakistan’s Second Innings Surrender
You can see the second innings Pakistan national cricket team vs South Africa national cricket team match scorecard and compare it with the first innings, the difference is quite visible. From 333 to 138 — a cave-in of 195 in terms of collective output, and the abandonment of any realistic hope that the match could be defended.
That left only Babar Azam to offer any real resistance, the batsman making a half-century (50) to briefly raise the hopes of Pakistan fans. But the way he was fired marked the beginning of the end. With Babar trapped lbw by Harmer, wickets fell with alarming regularity. Pakistan lost two of its most crucial batsmen in the first 20 minutes of play on Friday, according to reports, and from that point the game was all but over as a contest.
The second wicket had come late in the first morning’s play, and Harmer was the destroyer-in-chief, figures of 6 for 50 dismantling Pakistan for 138 in 49.3 overs. The numbers were clinical, merciless and devastating. But Harmer’s performance was about more than just the result of the match — six wickets took him to exactly 1,000 first-class wickets in his career and made him only the fourth South African ever to reach that landmark. It was a personal landmark of the highest order, under the most pressure-filled of circumstances.
Add in Maharaj’s 7-wicket haul in the first innings, and Harmer and Maharaj had shared 17 wickets between them across this game — a spinning partnership which the Pakistanis had no answer to for four days.
South Africa’s Chase: Ruthless Efficiency
Chasing 68 for victory, South Africa had the formality done and dusted with a minimum of fuss: it ended on 73 for 2 in just 12.3 overs. That’s not pursuing a target; that’s not even really a warm-up.
Aiden Markram was his side’s leading run-scorer with an aggressive 42 from 45 deliveries, including eight fours — the kind of fearlessness, decisiveness and invention that South Africa had shown all match long. Ryan Rickelton made 25 before South Africa crossed the line to secure a convincing victory by eight wickets.
Captain Markram was reflective in victory: “After the first test we were put under pressure but the guys have put their hands up and knew what they had to do and did it… In South Africa you’d think just seamers but I think we are very good with the spinners as well.” It was a revealing quote — a reminder, if one were needed, that South Africa’s spin options are not some Plan B; they’re an honest-to-goodness match-winning weapon.
Standout Performances at a Glance
Bowling:
- Keshav Maharaj — 7/102 (Pakistan 1st innings) | Player of the Match
- Simon Harmer — 6/50 (Pakistan 2nd innings) | 1,000th first-class wicket
Batting:
- Shan Masood — 87 (Pakistan 1st innings)
- Saud Shakeel — 66 (Pakistan 1st innings)
- Senuran Muthusamy — 89 (South Africa 1st innings)
- Tristan Stubbs — 76 (South Africa 1st innings)
- Kagiso Rabada — 71 (South Africa 1st innings)
- Babar Azam — 50 (Pakistan 2nd innings)
- Aiden Markram — 42 (South Africa 2nd innings chase)
What Does the Pakistan National Cricket Team vs South Africa National Cricket Team Match Scorecard Mean?
For South Africa, this was a statement victory. Wriggling out of Rawalpindi with a series level — in a venue and country that proves invariably problematic for visitors to the subcontinent — required tactical acumen and genuine match-winning class. The dependence on Maharaj and Harmer, as well as exclusively their pace attack, displayed a versatility that will shake opponents during the World Test Championship cycle.
The reflection is more difficult for Pakistan. Captain Masood admitted as much: “Four out of six is not bad… There’s a lot to work on. The lower-order batting, the finishing of innings, third-innings batting. But the second-innings crumble from 333 to 138 is exactly the kind of frailty that comes back to bite sides at Test level, and Pakistan’s braintrust will need to get to work fixing it as soon as possible.
Final Thoughts
The full Pakistan national cricket team vs South Africa national cricket team match scorecard match in Rawalpindi embellishes a tale of opposing orders of spin wizardry, lower-order resistance by South Africa and a Pakistan batting order that threatened greater things than it ultimately delivered at the pointy end. The match will be remembered for Maharaj’s 7-wicket haul and Harmer’s historic 6-wicket, thousandth wicket show: It would be a long time before South Africa forgot how to harness the magic that spin still evinces in the subcontinent.
