Abu Dhabi, Nov. 20: AB de Villiers and Jacques Kallis rescued South Africa with sparkling hundreds to guide them to 311-5 at close on the first day of the second Test against Pakistan on Saturday.
De Villiers was unbeaten on 120 for his 11th hundred while Kallis notched 105 for his 37th, as the duo added 179 runs for the fourth wicket after debutant paceman Tanveer Ahmed shook South Africa with three early wickets.
Mark Boucher was unbeaten on 26 at stumps. Ahmed (4-67) had justified Pakistan captain Misbha-ul-Haq’s decision to bowl first with South Africa tottering at 33-3 but Kallis and De Villiers thwarted any attempts in the next two sessions.
Kallis was more dominant during the restorative stand, hitting 12 boundaries and three towering sixes during his 147-ball knock before he played on to Ahmed. Kallis is behind India’s Sachin Tendulkar (49) and Australia’s Ricky Ponting (39) in the all-time Test century-makers list.
Earlier, Ahmed struck three crucial blows in the morning session, removing Alviro Petersen (two) and then claiming Hashim Amla (four) and Graeme Smith (10) — claiming three wickets off 28 balls.
Scorecard
South Africa 1st innings: Graeme Smith c Adnan b Ahmed 10, Alviro Petersen c Misbah b Ahmed 2, Hashim Amla c Adnan b Ahmed 4, Jacques Kallis b Ahmed 105, AB de Villiers batting 120, Ashwell Prince c Shafiq b Hafeez 32, Mark Boucher batting 26.
Extras (b-6, lb-1, nb-5) 12
Total (in 90 overs) 311/5
Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-6, 3-33, 4-212, 5-268.
Bowling: Umar 21-5-60-0, Ahmed 16-2-67-4, Sami 14-1-69-0, Younis 3-1-11-0, Rehman 29-7-77-0, Hafeez 7-0-20-0.