South Africa have reached the final of the World Test Championship with a two-wicket win.
South African pacers Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen were in contention with pace bowler Mohammad Abbas to win by two wickets in the first Test in Centurion to seal the Proteas' place in next year's World Test Championship (WTC) final.
Jansen (16 not out) overshadowed Abbas's fine display of 6-54 on Sunday with a boundary chased by a fast-spinner as South Africa reached 150-8 after lunch on Day 4 and survived with a win in the first of the two. -match series.
“It's a very exciting time for me, a good advertisement for Test cricket,” said South Africa captain Temba Bavuma, who played 40 matches.
“We didn't play aggressively but we found a way to make sure that the result was on our side. There was a lot of joy and excitement on our side, a little bit of a rollercoaster, happy that we got a result.”
Abbas, returning after three years in the Test wilderness, restored South Africa's chase of 148 runs in a marathon 13-overspelling before lunch as the home side slumped to 99-8, losing four wickets for three runs. .
However, Rabada switched gears in Jansen's unbroken 51-run stand and made an unbeaten 31 off 26 balls with four fours to seal a memorable victory and deny Pakistan its first Test victory in South Africa in nearly 18 years.
South Africa started the WTC with India drawing 1-1 before India lost 2-0 to New Zealand. But since then, the Proteas have beaten the West Indies, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to stay at the top of the table.
“This (WTC final) is good, not only for me but also for the team and the coach,” said Bavuma. “The way we started our campaign against India and then New Zealand are a very strong team and the way we've come through and the way we've been playing, not many have given us a chance.”
India, Australia and Sri Lanka are the other teams still in June's WTC final that will face South Africa at Lord's.
Captain Temba Bavuma (40) and Aiden Markram (37) thwarted Abbas for an hour as South Africa resumed at 27-3, still needing 121 to win.
Bavuma's dismissal led to South Africa's defeat in the last half of the first innings as Abbas claimed three balls from his six balls in the home team's collapse.
Incredibly, Bavuma did not request a replay on television as the replay showed that Abbas' ball had cleared the batsman's pocket and missed the crease, and the South African skipper returned to the changing room.
Abbas bowled 13 unbeaten overs but had to wait as Markram and Bavuma got eight overs from the fast bowlers.
Resuming at 27-3, Bavuma and Markram showed plenty of patience against Abbas's probing line and the fast bowler's length before getting the breakthrough after the opening drinks break.
Abbas was rewarded for his scintillating bowling when he hit the edge of Markram's bat and fell off stump.
Bavuma survived a couple of chances when he ended the LBW decision on the pitch when he was challenged earlier in the day and Naseem Shah couldn't catch the sharp leg line as he went past the boundary cushion when he caught the ball on his head. .
South Africa dominated the game at 96-4 before Bavuma was dismissed, Abbas got the off-sides of David Bedingham (14) and Corbin Bosch (0) to bat in quick succession, and in the middle, Kyle Verreynne pulled Naseem Shah's delivery onto his stumps. .
Abbas got a boundary off Rabada's ball in his first hour after lunch which almost killed off bowler Mohammad Rizwan before both took the team home.
“I am very proud of the effort, but going forward, we have to be ruthless,” Pakistan captain Shan Masood said. “We still make the same mistakes, but we have to cross the line, use the time.”
The second test starts in Cape Town on Friday.