By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
South Africa will resume on the third morning with Tony de Zorzi in the midst – he will hope – of an excellent innings currently worth 81* from 140 balls (9×4, 1×6) in the company of Senuran Muthusamy the batter on six not out.
The deficit is currently 162 runs on a rapidly deteriorating pitch. The tourists are currently coming second in the test match, by a distance.
Zorzi batted with guts, striking nine fours and a six, combating Noman Ali who claimed 4-85.
The Proteas started off well with 45-0 on the board when Noman removed captain Aiden Markram for 20 and Wiaan Mulder for 17 – both caught behind by wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan.
Ryan Rickelton, who scored a punishing 71 with two sixes and nine fours, and Zorzi added 94 for the third wicket, taking on the spinners with some aggressive shots.
It was part-timer Salman Agha who broke the stand by forcing an edge from Rickelton with Babar Azam taking a smart low catch in the slips.
Noman returned for his third spell to get Tristan Stubbs caught behind for eight and Kyle Verreynne lbw for two while Sajid Khan removed Dewald Brevis for a golden duck.
Earlier, it was Noman’s like-for-like left-armer Muthusamy who destroyed Pakistan after they resumed on 313-5, losing their last five wickets for just 16 runs.
Agha hit five fours and three sixes in his 93 and was last man out, caught in the deep off spinner Prenelan Subrayen, who took 2-78.
Agha added 49 with Rizwan to take their sixth-wicket stand to 163 before Muthusamy ripped out the middle order with three wickets in the 12th over of the day.
Rizwan was the first to go, for 75, when he edged a sharply turning ball to wicketkeeper Verreynne after a knock containing two fours and two sixes.
Two balls later Noman went without scoring, bowled when he played down the wrong line and then Sajid Khan followed first ball, caught in the slips.
It became 378-9 when Muthusamy bowled Shaheen Shah Afridi, on seven, for his sixth wicket. His previous Test best was 4-45 against Bangladesh in Chattogram last year.
Pakistan: Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Shan Masood (captain), Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan (wkt), Salman Agha, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Noman Ali, Sajid Khan
South Africa: Tony de Zorzi, Ryan Rickelton, Wiaan Mulder, Aiden Markram (captain), Tristan Stubbs, Dewald Brevis, Kyle Verreynne (wkt), Senuran Muthusamy, Prenelan Subrayen, Kagiso Rabada, Simon Harmer.