'South Africa can still turn the game around' against Pakistan, says Keshav Maharaj

KARACHI: South African spinner Keshav Maharaj feels that his side can still turn the game around against Pakistan despite the home team taking 88 runs lead at the end of the first Test's day two.

Speaking to media via online conference, he said that visitors would try to get the remaining two wickets of Pakistan quickly on the third morning and then put a good score on the board before asking the host to bat again in the 4th innings.

When asked who was leading day two, he said: “Obviously Pakistan is in a little bit of a lead." However, the 30-year old spinner added that he doesn’t think that South Africa falls behind in terms of who wins the day because they controlled the rate.

“We didn’t let the scoring rate get out of hand, and that’s still under three runs an over. So, you know, hopefully, tomorrow we can get the two wickets up and put a substantial score on the board and turn the match around — and put ourselves in a position to win this match,” Maharaj said.

Replying to a question, Maharaj said that he feels that his side did well on day two, despite dropping catches and not getting much support from the wicket.

He said that the wicket looks good, and the batsman could still score good runs there, giving an example of Fawad Alam, who scored a century.

“I think it is still a good wicket. Fawad just showed if you just put a bit of application and you can bat along and score runs. I think it's still a decent wicket,” he said.

The South African cricketer praised Alam’s inning and said that they will have to come with new plans against the Pakistani batsman who scored 109 to bring Pakistan back in the game.

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