Captain Masood leads Pakistan fight back in second Test

Cape Town: Shan Masood and Babar Azam shared a record opening partnership as Pakistan fought back after conceding a 421 run first innings deficit on t...

Cape Town: Shan Masood and Babar Azam shared a record opening partnership as Pakistan fought back after conceding a 421-run first innings deficit on the third day of the second Test against at Newlands on Sunday.

Pakistan were 213 for one in their follow-on innings at close of play, still 208 runs short of making South Africa bat again.

Pakistan captain Masood made 102 not out, his sixth Test century, and Babar scored 81, his third successive half-century in the series.

Babar, who has not scored an international century since August 2023, fell short again when he was caught in the gully off Marco Jansen 14 minutes before the close of play.

Their partnership of 205 was the highest for the first wicket for Pakistan in Tests against South Africa. It also exceeded Pakistan's first innings total of 194, which prompted South African captain Temba Bavuma to enforce the follow on.