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KARACHI. — A superb gritty hundred by Fawad Alam enabled Pakistan to take a first-innings lead of 88 as South Africa fumbled the ball in the final session of the second day of the first Test at the National Stadium yesterday.

From a desperate overnight position of 33 for four wickets, Pakistan finished the day on 308 for eight wickets, a valuable lead with the pitch scheduled to deteriorate sharply over the last three days.

After 14 wickets fell on the first day, only four further wickets fell yesterday for 275 runs.

South Africa’s bowlers were solid in the first two sessions on a low and slow pitch that behaved a little better with the uneven bounce less apparent. Although the Proteas only captured two wickets — in the afternoon session — they kept the Pakistan run-rate in check at just above two runs an over.

That changed dramatically in the final session when Pakistan scored 130 runs in 34 overs, a run-rate of 3.8 — almost twice as many runs as in the first two periods of play.

The disappointing session was symbolised by spinner Keshav Maharaj bowling a no-ball when he bowled Hasan Ali in the penultimate over of the day.

The right-hander then mistimed a slog to long-on where Faf du Plessis dropped a difficult catch.

There were also some questionable decisions by captain Quinton de Kock who handed the second new ball to spinner Maharaj and then, even more surprisingly, to part-timer Aiden Markram. Lungi Ngidi, who had only bowled 12 overs in the innings, was only re-introduced into the attack late and immediately responded with the wicket of Alam in the 98th over as he clipped him to Temba Bavuma at short midwicket.

The left-hander with the unusual stance of facing towards square leg, has enjoyed a curious career with Pakistan.

He began his Test career in 2009 with 168 against Sri Lanka in Colombo — the only Pakistani to strike a century on debut outside his home country — and was then promptly dropped two matches later.

More than a decade passed in the wilderness during which time he topped the Pakistan first-class averages season after season with an average of 56. The 35-year-old Alam never uttered a word about his fate, but he must have felt deeply satisfied to strike his second Test hundred last month against New Zealand and follow that up with his third yesterday — an innings that help push his team from the depths of Tuesday evening to the relative heights of their score at the end of play on Wednesday.

In all he batted for a few minutes short of six hours, striking nine fours and two sixes in his 245-ball innings, a knock full of determination, patience and pain after he was hit about the body on a number of occasions. — MWP.