Pakistan were too good for South Africa in the opening Test match of the series at Lahore's Gaddafi Stadium as Shan Masood and Co began their campaign in the new World Test Championship (WTC) cycle with a comprehensive victor by 93 runs, after posting a strong first-innings score of 378 on a wicket that was conducive to the spin bowlers. Having been in the bottom half of the WTC points table in the previous three cycles, Pakistan have the opportunity to turn it around this time, with favourable home and away assignments and as they say, well-begun is half the job done.
Pakistan earned 12 points from the victory in Lahore on Wednesday, October 15 and have a points percentage (PCT) of 100, equal to that of the two-time finalists Australia, who won their only assignment against the West Indies on the road, 3-0.
| Rank | Teams | Matches | Wins | Losses | Draw | Points | PCT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Australia | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 36 | 100 |
| 2. | Pakistan | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 100 |
| 3. | Sri Lanka | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 16 | 66.67 |
| 4. | India | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 52 | 61.90 |
| 5. | England | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 26 | 43.33 |
| 6. | Bangladesh | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 16.67 |
| 7. | South Africa | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 8. | West Indies | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 9. | New Zealand | Yet to play |
Pakistan's upsurge meant that Sri Lanka, who were in the second place until Tuesday when India beat the West Indies 2-0, slipped to the third place, while Shubman Gill and Co found itself in the fourth.
Since the England series last year, spin has come to Pakistan's rescue at home and the hosts were able to win 2-1 against Ben Stokes and Co and then draw 1-1 against the West Indies earlier this year. South Africa, despite missing one of their better Test batters and regular skipper Temba Bavuma, fought until the last ball, however, the alien conditions and a few balls turning square led to their undoing in Lahore.
South Africa have a tougher tour of India pending next month and the Proteas will be keen to get better at playing spin and applying themselves in the sub-continent conditions while looking to level the series in Rawalpindi next week. Tony de Zorzi, Ryan Rickelton and Senuran Muthusamy, who took 11 wickets for the match, were a few positives for the Proteas but they would required a much better collective effort to overcome the spin challenge against Pakistan in the Diwali week.