Muthusamy keeps South Africa and Pakistan in uneasy stalemate
Pakistan have the upper hand but the SA left-arm spinner has prevented them from making the most of it
Danyal Rasool14-Oct-2025When running late, there is always an instinct to rush, even if you cannot possibly make it to your destination on time. You might skip a long shower or an elaborate breakfast, or flirt with the top end of a speed limit on the way. There are wins to be had along the way, small gains that make no difference to the final outcome. But they’re worth pursuing anyway.And South Africa woke up late. Part of it, like the flip of the coin on Sunday morning, they could do as little about as if someone had turned off their alarm and drawn the curtains tighter to induce further sleep. But when Pakistan got the best of the batting conditions, South Africa’s spinners took over a session to find their lines, allowing Imam-ul-Haq and Shan Masood to gain an early, and what felt like a decisive, upper hand.It did not stop South Africa from scrambling to make up ground, even if the inherent disadvantage of batting last meant they were invariably treading water. That knotty sense of hopelessness was at its zenith at tea on Tuesday, a full two days after Imam and Masood pulled clear. But every time Pakistan’s position has veered into unassailability, Senuran Muthusamy has stood stubbornly in the way.Related
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Muthusamy has made a life out of ensuring innate disadvantages do not prove insurmountable. Growing up in South Africa as a specialist red-ball spinner around the same time as Keshav Maharaj is an accident of birth not conducive to a long Test career. Muthusamy made his first-class debut in 2013, and only got a shot at international cricket when South Africa toured India six years later. His Test match journey reads like a destination list even off-the-beat travel brochures would find too unusual to suggest: Visakhapatnam, Pune, Centurion, Chattogram, Bulawayo and now Lahore.With Pakistan 199 for 2 on Sunday afternoon, yet another one of those rare opportunities for impact appeared to have passed him by, but Muthusamy kept going. He spent the rest of the game showing everyone the value of a scrap to stay alive. Off the final two balls before tea that day, South Africa began to tug Pakistan back, and have held them in place in this uneasy stalemate. The hosts have the higher ground, but remain acutely aware that it is treacherous. Muthusamy accounted for 11 of the next 18 Pakistan wickets that fell, doubling his career Test haul over the past three days.On Tuesday, Masood’s men looked to make amends for leaving the door open. Abdullah Shafique scratched his way to 41, his highest Test score in over a year, and Babar Azam (42) and Saud Shakeel (38) both contributed with similar scores to swell Pakistan’s lead to 259 with six wickets still in the bag. Pakistan’s sense of comfort was illustrated by Shakeel – perhaps the team’s most conservative batter – stepping outside his crease to swipe Muthusamy over midwicket. He found the assured hands of Tristan Stubbs on the boundary, and South Africa began to claw their way back into plausibility once more.Shan Masood and Imam-ul-Haq had laid Pakistan’s groundwork on the first day in Lahore•AFP/Getty ImagesIt took a remarkable implosion from Pakistan, who lost their last six for 17 runs, to keep South Africa in contention. Muthusamy and Simon Harmer held their lines and nerve as the batters appeared to lose theirs; this was the third-steepest six-wicket collapse for Pakistan in a decade. By the time it was done, Muthusamy’s figures were the third-best in Gaddafi Stadium history, behind only Imran Khan and Abdul Qadir.By stumps, Ryan Rickelton and Tony de Zorzi were holding Pakistan at bay. The pair have complemented the tenacity of their spinners; it seems a long time ago but just this morning, de Zorzi had lifted Noman Ali over his head for six before bringing up the game’s only century off Pakistan’s most valuable spinner. Rickelton and de Zorzi have been responsible for exactly two-thirds of the runs South Africa have scored this Test, and will need to crank it up to an even more unlikely percentage if they are to fetch the remaining 226 to pull off a supremely unlikely heist.”A partnership on a wicket like this is gold,” de Zorzi said after play. “It’s tough to start and for a new guy to get rhythm. The beginning is the toughest but hopefully we can build a partnership and crack on.”Any reading of recent – or ancient – history suggests it remains an uphill challenge. Only one of the previous three completed Test matches in Lahore have resulted in a win for the chasing side, and never has a total anywhere near this magnitude been brought down. The advantage Pakistan built up by calling correctly at the toss and the three hours that followed still holds firm, but South Africa have refused to allow the hosts to stretch it further.At the end of the day, the PCB’s in-house website, in its report for the day, cautiously noted the game was “hanging in the balance”. This was around the same time as de Zorzi was beginning to talk up his side’s chances.”Ricks and I keep each other present,” he said. “We take it one ball at a time and remind each other of our options. The guys coming in are just as able, if not more talented. Hopefully they won’t [need to] but anyone in there, if they build a partnership, it’s on.”They may have woken up late, but Muthusamy and de Zorzi have ensured Pakistan are still on their toes three days after they were supposed to have pulled away.