Star Maharaj Harmar, who played host with the ball, was bowled out for 138 and South Africa clinched their second Test win with a 68.
Published October 23, 2025
On the fourth day of the second cricket Test in Rawalpindi, South Africa defeated Pakistan by eight wickets, leveling the back-to-back with victory before lunch.
The home team was easily dispatched in the opening minutes, dropping from 94-4 overnight to 138 points on Thursday.
South Africa then reached a target of 68 runs in 12.3 overs, with captain Aiden Markram scoring 42, but his leg was trapped short of the wicket by Noman Ali, leaving them just four runs away from victory.
Tristan Stubbs was caught in slip in the same over and did not score, leaving Ryan Rickelton (25 not out) and Tony De Sorge, who did not face the ball, to complete the job.
It was South Africa’s 11th win in 12 Tests, the only blemish being a 93-run loss to Pakistan in the first match of the series last week in Lahore.
“There were moments where the players had to put their hands up and stand up for the team, and they really did that and were excellent at that. It took a lot of confidence and belief to win, but when your character is tested and you manage to get on the right side, I think it means a lot,” Markram said.
Simon Harmer added two more wickets to the seven wickets taken in the first innings by fellow spinner Keshav Maharaj as Pakistan collapsed to win 6-50.
Despite starting the opening day with high expectations, Pakistan continued their downward trend as they lost their last six wickets for 44 runs.
They needed the big contribution of star batsman Babar Azam, and his appearance on the stumps throughout the series resulted in a sudden surge in the crowd and a noticeable increase in the noise of excitement from the stands.
However, Babar has not scored a century in the last 15 Tests since scoring 161 against New Zealand in Karachi in December 2022.
He scored 49 points overnight, shared a 34-run partnership with Mohammad Rizwan, picked up six wickets, and delivered on his promise to take Pakistan back into the contest with a 23-run lead.
However, after reaching 50 with one off the second ball of the morning, the 31-year-old Babar had his leg trapped short of the wicket by Harmer in the first over.
Then Harmer, 36, who had enjoyed a long career in English county cricket but had only played 12 Tests, took his first five-wicket haul in Test cricket and the home innings collapsed like a pack of cards.
He caught Rizwan at short leg for 18 runs, with Noman Ali slipping behind him for no points, taking his 1,000th first-class wicket.
“We have a lot of work to do,” home captain Shan Massoud said. “The bottom of the lineup, the closing of the inning, the third at-bat, the first inning, we had a chance to get over 400 and we didn’t.”
