
Keshav Maharaj picked up 7-102 during the second Test of the series between South Africa and Pakistan in Rawalpindi, joining an elite club in the process.
Maharaj struck first by dismissing Babar Azam cheaply as the Pakistan batter continued his lean patch. The wicket at 167-3 was Pakistan's second to fall in quick succession, after being 146-1 at one stage. Maharaj then ran through the rest of the line-up, with Kagiso Rabada being the only other wicket-taker on the scorecard – having dismissed Mohammad Rizwan (19).
Maharaj picked up his 12th five-wicket haul, the eighth-most by a South African bowler. This puts him within touching distance of the next man on the list, seamer Vernon Philander, who has a tally of 13. He cleaned up tailenders Sajid Khan (5) and 38-year-old debutant Asif Afridi (4) to complete a seven-for.
For Pakistan, Shan Masood (87), Saud Shakeel (66) and Abdullah Shafique (57) were the top contributors, taking them to 333 in the first innings.
Keshav Maharaj picks second seven-for in Asia
With 7-102, Maharaj became only the second non-Asian bowler to take multiple seven-wicket hauls in Tests in Asia. His previous seven-plus wicket haul in Asia came in 2018 when he picked up a career-best 9-129 against Sri Lanka in Colombo.
The record belongs to Nathan Lyon, who has taken seven or more wickets in an innings four times in Asia between 2013 and 2023, with three coming against India. In fact, Lyon’s 139 Test wickets at an average of 27.49 are the most by a visiting bowler in Asia.
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Maharaj, the first South African spinner to reach 200 Test wickets, now also has the joint-most seven-wicket hauls among his countrymen. Off-spinner Hugh Tayfield from South Africa’s pre-readmission era also has four to his name.
Maharaj also recorded the best first-innings figures by a visiting spinner in Pakistan. He went past the previous record of 6-117, set by his teammate Senuran Muthusamy in the series opener last week.
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