Morkel Inspires As South Africa Push Clear

Morkel Inspires As South Africa Push Clear

©REUTERS/Philip Brown (SOUTH AFRICA - Tags: SPORT CRICKET) Picture Supplied by Action Images

South Africa 380 (Smith 100) & 139-2 (Amla 44no) v
Pakistan 248 (Mohammad Hafeez 60, Morkel 5-55)
First Test, Dubai, day three
Scorecard

Morne Morkel's five-wicket haul helped South Africa secure a handy first-innings lead over Pakistan on day three of the opening Test in Dubai.

And by stumps they had extended their advantage to 271, closing on 139 for two in their second innings.

After Azhar Ali fought hard to make 56 in172 balls and Younus Khan hit 35, the rest of the batting order failed to contribute as Morkel returned five for 55.

Having dismsised opener Taufeeq Umar on day two, Morkel went on to claim the wickets of Ali, Abdur Rehman (1), Wahab Riaz (5) and Saeed Ajmal (2).

Off-spinner Johan Botha ripped out the middle order by removing Younus, Misbah-ul-Haq (9) and Umar Akmal (4) while Adnan Akmal's first Test innings lasted 26 balls as he scored ten runs before he was caught by Mark Boucher off Dale Steyn.

Morkel then finished off the tail and left it to the top-order batsmen to put South Africa in a commanding position.

Openers Alviro Petersen (26) and Graeme Smith (34) were trapped in front by spinners Rehman and Ajmal respectively having put on 47 for the first wicket and following their dismissals, an unbeaten half-century partnership between Hashim Amla (44) and Jacques Kallis (32) further increased South Africa's lead.

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