South Africa’s march towards a result that will draw the series and prolong their seven-year unbeaten record away from home continued unabated, but the gloss on their seemingly impeccable performance was lost when the on-field umpires penalised them for tampering with the ball. Graeme Smith’s team ended the third day needing six wickets to complete an emphatic victory – probably by an innings considering Pakistan were still trailing by 286 with two days remaining – but the likelihood of a meeting with the Match Referee loomed large as the sun set in Dubai.
The incident occurred two overs after tea, before the start of the 31st over, following television visuals of one player rubbing the ball allegedly on the zipper of his trouser pocket. The umpires Ian Gould and Rod Tucker called Graeme Smith over for a chat and subsequently changed the ball and awarded a five-run penalty against South Africa, sanctions that are consistent with the penalty for unlawfully changing the condition of the ball. A second television visual showed another player allegedly picking at the side of the ball with his finger.
On either side of that unsavoury episode, however, South Africa made strides towards victory, albeit not at the pace at which they had shut Pakistan out of the Test over the first two days. After South Africa were dismissed for 517 with a lead of 418, 16 minutes before lunch, Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander punched Pakistan in the gut by dismissing their openers in their only overs before the break.
Steyn swung the ball back into Shan Masood’s front pad and the left-hand batsman continued Pakistan’s lousy use of reviews by wasting one on an lbw that was plumb. Philander then handed Khurram Manzoor his first pair in Test cricket; the right-hand batsman hung his bat outside off stump and watched Jacques Kallis dive to his right at second slip to take the catch at head height. Pakistan were 2 for 2.
After lunch, Younis Khan and Azhar Ali focused on survival. Steyn swung and seamed the new ball away from the right-handers; Philander bowled with unrelenting accuracy; Morne Morkel hit speeds off 149.6 kph – the fastest ball of the Test – in his first over. With four slips and other catches in place, there were gaps to exploit on the huge outfield but only 18 runs were scored in the first 13 overs. One of Tahir’s legbreaks spun so viciously from the rough around off stump that it went straight to first slip.
Azhar and Younis, however, survived all that until Smith brought on the part-time offspinner JP Duminy ten minutes before tea. His first ball spun sharply into Azhar and kept low to hit the back pad just in line with off stump. In an instant, a vast amount of hard graft had come undone and Pakistan were 48 for 3. Duminy could have struck in his second over, too, but Kallis failed to catch an outside edge from Younis off the penultimate ball before the break.
Younis’ composure, which had served him well through the second session, disappeared soon after the tampering incident, when he charged Tahir and attempted a mow across the line. He missed and the ball bounced off his pad on to his stumps. At 70 for 4, Pakistan were in danger of sliding further towards defeat but Misbah-ul-Haq and Asad Shafiq put on an unbeaten 62-run stand. Shafiq was fortunate to survive a stumping chance on 18 off Duminy, and Pakistan will need a miraculous performance from him and the rest to prevent an innings defeat.