The last match of the two-match Test series between Pakistan and South Africa is being played at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi. South Africa’s experienced spinner Keshav Maharaj has performed brilliantly in this match. Maharaj took seven wickets for 102 runs in Pakistan’s first innings. Due to this, the Pakistani team was reduced to 333 runs in the first innings.
Keshav Maharaj has made some tremendous records due to this brilliant bowling. This was the best performance by a South African bowler in a Test on Pakistani soil. Maharaj broke Paul Adams’ record. Adams took 7 wickets for 128 runs in the second innings of the Lahore Test match in October 2003.
Keshav Maharaj is the first foreign bowler to have taken seven or more wickets in a Test innings against Pakistan at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. Maharaj achieved this feat by destroying the lower middle order and lower order of Pakistan. He took five wickets in the first session of the game on the second day (21 October). Whereas in the first day’s play, Maharaj had sent Babar Azam and Shan Masood to the pavilion.
Keshav Maharaj is the second left-arm spinner who took seven wickets in a Test innings against Pakistan on their soil. Before Maharaj, only Jomel Warrican of West Indies had achieved this feat. Warrican took seven wickets for 32 runs in Pakistan’s second innings in the Multan Test match in January this year.
If seen, only 11 bowlers have taken seven or more wickets in a Test innings against Pakistan on their soil. The name of former Team India captain Kapil Dev is also included in this.
Salman Ali Aga and Saud Shakeel gave a steady start for Pakistan on the second day of the Rawalpindi Test. Both of them made a partnership of 70 runs for the sixth wicket, due to which Pakistan’s score crossed 300. Then Keshav Maharaj soon made a comeback for the South African team by dismissing Salman on the score of 46 runs. Then in his next over he sent Shakeel to the pavilion.
After this the lower order of the Pakistani team was devastated. Keshav Maharaj’s precise line and length did not allow the Pakistani team to score much runs in the first innings. Fast bowler Kagiso Rabada and spinner Simon Harmer also supported Maharaj very well. Maharaj did not play in the first Test match, in which Pakistan won by 93 runs. This brilliant bowling of Maharaj has instilled confidence in the South African team.
7 or more wickets in a Test innings in Pakistan (foreign spinners)
Lindsay Kline (Australia)- Lahore, 1959
Phil Edmonds (England)- Karachi, 1978
Ray Bright (Australia)- Karachi, 1980
Stephen Brook (New Zealand) – Hyderabad (Sindh), 1984
Paul Adams (South Africa)- Lahore, 2003
Jomel Warrican (West Indies)- Multan, 2025
Keshav Maharaj (South Africa)- Rawalpindi, 2025
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