In a stunning display of cricketing prowess, South Africa decimated Pakistan by eight wickets on Thursday, October 23, 2025, to draw level in the two-Test series. The architect of this decisive victory was off-spinner Simon Harmer, whose exceptional six-wicket haul proved to be a game-changer.
Having lost the opening Test in Lahore by 93 runs just last week, South Africa turned the tables dramatically on the spinning Rawalpindi pitch. Harmer was instrumental, bagging figures of 6-50 to skittle Pakistan out for a mere 138 runs on Day 4.
This left the reigning World Test Championship winners with a comfortable victory target of just 68 runs, which they chased down with remarkable ease, finishing at 73 for 2 in only 12.3 overs.
The Proteas’ victory was largely orchestrated by their spin duo, Simon Harmer and left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj. Maharaj, who was sidelined for the first Test due to injury, returned to combine with Harmer for an impressive 17 wickets in this second match.
During the chase, South Africa’s captain, Aiden Markram, led from the front with a rapid 42 runs off 45 deliveries, including eight boundaries. He was eventually trapped leg-before-wicket by Noman Ali when his team needed only four more runs for victory.
Tristan Stubbs, who had been one of four South African batsmen to score a half-century in their first innings total of 404, unfortunately fell for a duck, edging Noman to slip. However, Ryan Rickelton, unbeaten on 25, sealed the triumph by smashing Sajid Khan for a six just before the scheduled lunch break.
Earlier, Harmer achieved a significant personal milestone, becoming only the third South African bowler to claim 1,000 wickets in first-class cricket when he had Noman caught behind. This dismissal triggered Pakistan’s second innings collapse in just over an hour.
Pakistan’s hopes of setting a challenging target rested heavily on their overnight batsmen, Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, as they resumed at 94 for 4. However, both key players succumbed to Harmer within the off-spinner’s first three overs of the morning session.
Babar, resuming on 49, reached his first half-century of the series with a single, much to the delight of the fans at Pindi Cricket Stadium. Yet, his celebration was short-lived as Harmer trapped him lbw with a delivery that sharply spun back into the pads. A review confirmed the umpire’s decision, showing no bat contact before the ball struck him flush in front of the stumps, extending Babar’s drought without a Test century since December 2022.
Soon after, Harmer found an inside edge off Rizwan’s bat, with the ball popping up for Tony de Zorzi to take a simple catch close to the wicket. This double blow within 20 minutes left Pakistan reeling and with a fragile lead of only 34 runs.
Despite a valiant rearguard effort of 28 runs off 42 balls from Salman Ali Agha, he eventually chopped Maharaj back onto his stumps. The left-arm spinner then completed Pakistan’s resistance by having Khan stumped, effectively closing out the innings.