Babar Azam’s run drought in Test match cricket continued on Thursday as he was dismissed for just 4 on Day 1 of Pakistan’s Boxing Day Test against South Africa at the SuperSport Park in Centurion. Babar, who was dropped for the second and third Test at home against England, was making a comeback in this format.
The former Pakistan captain was caught at second slip by Aiden Markram for just 4 off South African pacer Dane Paterson soon after the first drinks break in the first session. Babar has now gone 19 innings without getting past 50 in Test cricket.
Dane Paterson strikes again, dismissing Babar Azam with a stunning catch from Aiden Markram at third slip !!
— (@MarkramBot) December 26, 2024
Babar’s last Test fifty came exactly two years back on December 26, 2022 against New Zealand, when he scored 161 in Karachi. However, Babar managed to complete 4,000 Test runs in his 56th match and 101st innings when he got off the mark with a boundary off debutant Corbin Bosch.
The Pakistan No 3 batter now has 4,001 runs at an average of 43.48 with 9 hundreds and 26 fifties. Babar had come into the Test series in fine form with successive fifties in the last two ODI matches against South Africa as Pakistan whitewashed the Proteas 3-0 in the ODI series.
Meanwhile, Pakistan were off to a rocky start after being sent into bat by South Africa captain Temba Bavuma. After a fine start of 36 runs in first 14 overs, Pakistan lost 4 wickets in quick succession.
Bosch became 25th bowler in the history of Test cricket to pick up a wicket off his first ball, when he forced an edge off Pakistan skipper Shan Masood. Paterson then added a double strike by dismissing in-form opener Saim Ayub for 14 followed by Babar.
The South African debutant added a second wicket to his name in the first session, getting a thin edge off the glove of Saud Shakeel, who was dismissed for 14 off 6 balls.
At lunch on Day 1, youngster Kamran Ghulam was batting on 23 off 22 balls with 1 six and 3 fours and wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan was on 10 as Pakistan reached 88 for the loss of four wickets.
