South Africa 301 (Markram 89, Bosch 81*, Shahzad 3-75, Naseem 3-92) and 150 for 8 (Bavuma 40, Abbas 6-54) batted Pakistan 211 (Ghulam 54, Paterson 5-61, Bosch 4-63) and 237 (Shakeel 84, Babar 50, Jansen 6-52) with two wickets

Pakistan gave themselves every chance by running through South Africa’s middle order on a morning of chaos in which South Africa lost 5 for 37, including four wickets for three runs in 12 balls, putting the onus on the bowlers to finish the job.

Jansen and Rabada are both capable with the bat, but with the pressure all the way up, every ball was an event, from the second Rabada faced, where he popped up and over point for four, to the last one, delicately controlled by Jansen through points to secure the winning runs.

Those shots are also screenshots of the way the pair approached the chase: Rabada backed himself to play his shots, while Jansen was more conservative and happy to wait for scoring opportunities.

Between them, they offered just one chance when Rabada fished outside off and settled on the edge in the 12th, but the chance missed Mohammad Rizwan. It came after the lunch break, South Africa went in needing 32 to win.

Bavuma would also have been a relieved man after he worked his way to 40 and then departed when he missed the ball. He was given out by what appeared to be the inside edge and left. Replays showed the ball had brushed part of his clothing and with all three reviews available, South Africa could have asked for a second opinion.

Instead, Bavuma, who had received treatment on his elbow shortly before, left the middle order to finish the job.

Kyle Verreynne couldn’t get behind the line of a Naseem Shah delivery and chipped it onto his stumps. In the next over, David Bedingham chased an Abbas ball and was caught behind, and Corbin Bosch did almost exactly the same to give Abbas his sixth wicket, and South Africa had crumbled from a position that felt comfortable: 96 for 4 after having tipped precariously at 27. for 3 overnight.

Bavuma got the first run of the morning, and his first run, from the fifth ball, off an Abbas half-volley that he clipped through square leg. Abbas settled for a length and believed in his next that he had found Bavuma’s edge. Rizwan indicated that the ball had brushed Bavuma’s thigh, but Shah Masood called anyway. Rizwan got it right and Bavuma at 5 could continue.

Aiden Markram looked a little more in control but got a streaky boundary over the edge before Bavuma creamed Khurram Shahzad at mid-on to leave South Africa with 100 runs to spare.

Off the next ball, Bavuma, on 13, was given lbw to Shahzad but was dismissed immediately. Replays showed an inside edge and Bavuma survived again.

South Africa scored just three runs off the next 27 balls before Bavuma released the pressure with a hook shot from Abbas that Naseem thought he could get under. Naseem got his hands under the ball but the momentum carried him over the boundary rope and not only did Bavuma get away with the shot he has fallen for several times this season but he got a six for it.

To add insult to injury, Markram smashed the second ball of Naseem’s next over over extra cover for four. Fourteen dotted balls followed before a Markram single took South Africa to the first drinks break unscathed and 35 runs were scored in the first hour.

Three balls after the interval, Markram was bowled by an Abbas delivery that kept low as he tried to clamp his bat down and keep it out. It ended a 43-run fourth-wicket stand between Bavuma and Markram and brought Bedingham, who has a top score of 35 this summer, into the fold.

He started with a wrist flick for four before Bavuma executed an exquisite cover drive, but the flashy shots were followed by risky ones.

Bavuma couldn’t resist another hook, despite not being able to fully extend the elbow, but the chance surely fell. He continued to push forward against Shahzad, brought back to replace Naseem and batted across the decks but could never get comfortable.

Two balls later Shahzad thought he found his outside edge but Rizwan saw it was cushion and Masood listened. Bavuma faced eight more balls before requiring treatment on his right elbow – the left was injured before this season – but continued. In the next over, he drove expansively and loosely at Abbas and walked, but his teammates had enough in the tank to guarantee South Africa’s place at Lord’s next year and take a 1-0 series lead. South Africa will play another Test in this cycle, against Pakistan, at Newlands next week.