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18-year-old Kwena Maphaka achieves unique record in ongoing Pakistan's tour of South Africa

18-year-old Kwena Maphaka etched his name in history by achieving a unique record during the ongoing Pakistan tour of South Africa.

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Deepak Joshi
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Kwena Maphaka

Kwena Maphaka Photograph: (X)

South Africa's rising pace sensation Kwena Maphaka made a dream start to his Test career after he got the better of the Pakistan veteran, Babar Azam. Notably, the Proteas are hosting the Asian nation in the second and final Test of the series at Newlands in the vibrant city of Cape Town. The 18-year-old had been troubling Pakistani batters with his lethal pace and eventually dismissed the best batter of the visitors.

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Maphaka steaming in through, dished out a ball on the leg stump while angling it for the premier batter. However, in an attempt to glide down the leg side past the wicketkeeper, he ended up handing a catch to Verreynne. Even though the South African had to bend low to grab a good catch due to low bounce, it resulted in Azam becoming the maiden Test victim of the youngster.

Amid celebrating the wicket with a gleeful smile and getting appreciation from their teammates and fans, Maphaka became the youngest pacer to claim a Test wicket for South Africa. Interestingly, with this dismissal, he also claimed a unique record.

In the aftermath of Babar Azam's dismissal, Maphaka also etched his name in the record books by becoming the youngest pacer to have dismissed the Pakistan batter in all three formats. What was more incredible was the fact that the youngster achieved this feat within 26 days of his international career at the apex level.

Also Read: Mohammad Rizwan's reckless shot puts Pakistan in danger against South Africa in 2nd Test

Babar Azam back in form

After going through a lean patch, Babar Azam found his batting mojo in the ongoing tour of South Africa. Notably, while playing against the Rainbow Nation, Azam notched up his second half-century in the two-match Test series.

Azam, who opened the innings for Pakistan, started in a solid manner from one end, while South Africa picked three wickets in quick succession. However, the Pakistan batter remained unfazed and tried to steady the ship by holding the fort from the end. After starting cautiously, he was looking set to score a memorable century. But his gritty knock got cut short after facing 127 balls but not before scoring a vital half-century (57 runs) for his side. During his stay, his knock was laced with seven boundaries.

As a result, Pakistan was left in a spot of bother as their key batter, Saim Ayub, got ruled out of the Test match after sustaining an ankle fracture. This led to Azam walking out as an opener. Besides him, the only other batter who was looked in good touch was the wicketkeeper-batter, Mohammad Rizwan.

Even though Rizwan got a good start and was inching closer to his fifty, he failed to convert this knock into a big one. The veteran got dismissed on 46, which left Pakistan in shambles, as they failed to save the follow-on situation and got bowled out for 194 in response to South Africa's first-innings score of 615.

South Africa Pakistan Kwena Maphaka
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