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Shan Masood Brings Up Fighting Fifty After Pakistan's First Innings Collapse And Follow-On

Sakshi Sharma

Shan Masood completes his fifty (Source: AP)Shan Masood completes his fifty (Source: AP)

Despite a challenging start in Pakistan's first innings in the ongoing second Test against South Africa, Pakistan found a moment of hope as Shan Masood produced a gritty half-century to provide some much-needed stability at the top of the order.

After South Africa's dominant performance in the first innings, where they made 615 runs, Pakistan were bowled out for just 194, trailing by a massive 421 runs. The Proteas wasted no time, and as expected enforced follow-on and asked Pakistan to bat again immediately.

Shan Masood's Much-Needed Fifty To Revive Pakistan

Faced with a uphill task and the pressure of a massive deficit, Pakistan's openers knew they had to fight back and this is exactly what they did. Coming into ongoing second innings, Shan Masood had just 2 runs to his name from the first innings and was under considerable scrutiny for his recent struggles. 

Having been widely criticised for not being able to cope with the moving ball, the 35-year-old opener was expected to deliver or risk losing his place in the side and this time he proved himself. 

It is also important to note that, Masood's fifty was not the kind of free-flowing knock, his innings was built on solid defense and measured aggression when the opportunity presented itself.  

Both the openers, Babar Azam and Shan Masood gave Pakistan that much needed-start and reached fifty in a remarkable fashion. 

For Pakistan, the performance of both openers in this second innings is critical, especially with the team still facing a steep climb with Pakistan still trailing by 269 runs; from here on, every run counts and matters.

The duo has already snitched an important partnership of 152 runs, and Pakistan will want them to stay at the crease and fight for a chance after the first innings collapse. At the time of writing, Pakistan is at 152 runs at the loss of no wicket, with Shan Masood at 78* runs and Babar Azam at 60* runs.