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A superb 259 from Ryan Rickleton helped World Test Championship finalists South Africa dominate the second and final test against Pakistan. Winning the toss, home skipper Temba Bavuma opted to bat first.

Early doors, this decision was a doomed one. Aidan Markram (17), Jan Mulder (5) and Tristan Stubbs (0) meant The Proteas were 72-3. Now, that’s not terrible, but it meant that the home side had to be careful they didn’t lose any more wickets with not much score on the board.

The home side need not have worried, however, as Ryan Rickelton (259) and skipper Bavuma (106) put on 235 for the fourth wicket. This stand changed the match and arguably deflated the tourists’ attack.

At 307-4 at that point, the game wasn’t too much away from Shaan Masood’s side, but wicket-keeper batsmen Kyle Veryenne (100), Marco Jansen (62 off 54-balls) and Keshav Maharaj (40 off 35-balls) helped South Africa post a mammoth total of 610 and all out.

Even at this early stage of the game, Pakistan will try to survive, but with three batsmen already in the pavilion and not even 100 on the board, things look bleak for the 2009 T20 World Champions.

Pakistan closed on 64-3. Babar now’s your time to make a Ryan Rickleton impression and for you, Mohammed Rizwan, to play the role of Bavuma.

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