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Spinner Noman Ali grabbed four wickets to restrict South Africa to 216-6 at the close of play on day two of the first Test in Lahore on Monday, despite a fighting half century from Tony de Zorzi.Spinners dominated on a turning Gaddafi Stadium pitch as all the day's 11 wickets went to slow bowlers, with South African left-armer Senuran Muthusamy taking a career-best 6-117 to dismiss Pakistan for 378.De Zorzi was holding the fort at the close with 81 not out and Muthusamy on six as South Africa trail by 162 runs in the first innings.De Zorzi batted with guts, knocking nine boundaries and a six, combating Noman who claimed 4-85.South Africa started off well with 45-0 on the board when Noman removed touring skipper Aiden Markram for 20 and Wiaan Mulder for 17 -- both caught behind by wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan.Ryan Rickelton, who scored a punishing 71 with two sixes and nine boundaries, and De Zorzi added 94 for the third wicket, taking on the spinners with some aggressive shots.It was part-timer Salman Agha who broke the stand by forcing an edge from Rickelton with Babar Azam taking a smart low catch in the slips.Noman returned for his third spell to get Tristan Stubbs caught behind for eight and Kyle Verreynne leg-before for two while Sajid Khan removed Dewald Brevis for a golden duck."We need to get them out as early as possible and a 120-run lead would help us win this Test," said Noman."This pitch will further help spinners in the coming days so it's good for us."Earlier, it was Noman's like-for-like left-armer Muthusamy who destroyed Pakistan after they resumed on 313-5, losing their last five wickets for just 16 runs.Muthusamy, who bettered his previous Test best of 4-45 against Bangladesh in Chattogram last year, said: "It was really nice to add value to the team by getting wickets."It was not ideal to have lost wicket close to stumps, but we will fight back tomorrow."Agha hit five fours and three sixes in his 93 and was last man out, caught in the deep off spinner Prenelan Subrayen, who took 2-78.Agha added 49 with Rizwan to take their sixth-wicket stand to 163 before Muthusamy ripped out the middle order with three wickets in the 12th over of the day.Rizwan was the first to go, for 75, when he edged a sharply turning ball to wicketkeeper Verreynne after a knock containing two fours and two sixes.Two balls later Noman went without scoring, bowled when he played down the wrong line and then Sajid Khan followed first ball, caught in the slips.It became 378-9 when Muthusamy bowled Shaheen Shah Afridi, on seven, for his sixth wicket.BRIEF SCORES:South Africa 216 for 6 (De Zorzi 81*, Rickelton 71, Noman 4-85) trail Pakistan 378 (Agha 93, Imam 93, Masood 76, Muthusamy 6-117) by 162 runs

Pakistan rode on a brilliant 93 from Imam-ul-Haq to reach 313-5 after a brief fightback from South Africa on the opening day of the first Test in Lahore on Sunday.Shan Masood hit 76, but Haq missed out on his hundred and Pakistan slumped to 199-5 as four wickets fell quickly.Mohammad Rizwan, 62 not out, and Salman Agha, unbeaten 52 at the close, rebuilt the innings during an unbroken sixth-wicket stand of 114 in the final session on a spin-friendly Gaddafi Stadium pitch.Rizwan hit two fours and two sixes in his 12th Test half-century while Agha had two fours and a six in reaching his 10th fifty.Pakistan dominated most of the first two sessions, but then had a mini-collapse from 163-1 to 199-5 as they lost four wickets for 36 runs, the last three without adding a run either side of the tea interval."We have batted us to a good position," said Haq, playing his first Test since December 2023."We must score over 400 to get us in a strong position. Regarding missing a hundred, that's always disappointing."Spinner Prenelan Subrayen trapped Masood lbw for 76, including nine fours and a six, to end a 161-run stand with Haq.Left-arm spinner Senuran Muthusamy then had Haq caught at short-leg by Tony de Zorzi, after a 236-minute knock that included seven fours and a six.Next ball - the last before tea - Muthusamy had Saud Shakeel caught and bowled to bring South Africa back into the game at 199-4.Local hero Babar Azam fell for 23, trapped leg-before by Harmer after the interval to make it 199-5 and leave a good 10,000 holiday crowd disappointed.South Africa could have been in a better position had they not dropped Masood on 61 and Haq on 72 with Subrayen the unlucky bowler on both occasions.South Africa spinner Simon Harmer hoped they could finish off the Pakistan innings quickly on day two."We had a good day and now need to take positives from today and keep Pakistan under 400," he said."That would be great because this pitch will take more spin as the match progresses," said Harmer, who had figures of 1-75.With the pitch likely to turn, Masood opted to bat after winning the toss and named specialist spin duo Noman Ali and Sajid Khan in the teamPakistan lost opener Abdullah Shafique leg before to pace spearhead Kagiso Rabada off the third ball of the day.South African captain Aiden Markram turned to his spinners in the sixth over and by lunch had used all three -- Subrayen, Harmer and Muthusamy.But there were no further dramas in the opening session as Pakistan reached 107-1 at lunch after Haq had brought up his 10th Test fifty.The two-match series is part of the new World Test Championship two-year cycle. South Africa won the title by beating Australia in June.

South Africa captain Aiden Markram says his side can expect to have a target on their back when they begin a new cycle of the World Test Championship as defending champions.South Africa play a two-Test series in Pakistan, starting on Sunday, and two games in India in November as they bid to retain the trophy they won in June by beat Australia by five wickets at Lord’s.The World Test Championship is decided at the end of a two-year cycle, with the top two teams competing in a one-off five-day match.“I suppose you create a bit of a target on your back if you’ve won (the WTC), and if that’s the case, it’s fair. We want to chase a place in the final again and lift that trophy once again but realise each team will be coming for us,” said Markram, who stands in as skipper for Temba Bavuma who has been ruled out of the tour with a calf strain.“We, as a team, have to keep getting better and improving and playing well in all different types of conditions. It starts for us in Pakistan, and it’s a challenge the boys will be up for,” he told a press conference on Monday.South Africa have been practising on specially prepared spinning wickets at Pretoria’s High Performance Centre.“There were a couple of nets prepared where the spin is really exaggerated, and you’d rather err on that side, and maybe then it’s a bit easier when we get to Pakistan,” Markram said.“We’re expecting to face a lot of spin over there, and it’s also, naturally, a lot lower there from a seam point of view,” Markram said.“There’s a lot of skiddy, so it’s hard to try and emulate that here in South Africa, but we’ve been looking to put a lot of emphasis on finding a way to train for that.”The first Test against Pakistan is in Lahore and the second begins on October 20 in Rawalpindi.

England flexed their muscles in their Women's World Cup opener with a ruthless 10-wicket demolition of South Africa in Guwahati on Friday.After bowling out the Proteas for a paltry 69 in just 20.4 overs, England's openers Tammy Beaumont and Amy Jones made light work of the chase, cantering home in 14.1 overs.Electing to bowl first, England rolled the dice early by tossing the new ball to spin, a move captains often shy away from in the power play. But left-arm tweaker Linsey Smith turned out to be the ace up their sleeve, exploiting a tacky surface that had South Africa groping in the dark."To get that start was very special. I only found out Friday that I was opening the bowling and I was excited for the challenge. The conditions suited me well," said Smith.It was just Smith's fifth ODI, but the 30-year-old is no stranger to international cricket, having been part of England's T20 side since 2018. Now a permanent fixture in the 50-over team, her willingness to bowl in the danger zone of the power play could be a trump card for England going forward in this campaign.Smith struck in each of her first three overs and was unlucky not to bag a fourth when a stumping chance off Sinalo Jafta went begging. Jafta clung on grimly for 22, the lone South African to reach double figures in a sorry tale of collapse.It was the Proteas' third lowest total in ODIs and their worst against England.The chase was little more than a formality, though Jones survived a let-off on 31 when Masabata Klaas spilled a return catch. She finished unbeaten on 40 with Beaumont on 21 not out."Not the way we wanted to start the tournament. We've shown resilience in the past and we'll bounce back," South African skipper Laura Wolvaardt insisted as her batters were left searching for answers.England's dominance was such that Heather Knight, marking her 150th ODI appearance wasn't required to bat or bowl as her team-mates were so dominant against South Africa. She became only the second player from England to feature in 150 women's ODIs.The emphatic win vaulted England to the top of the points table with all eight teams now having played one game each.BRIEF SCORES:England 73 for 0 (Jones 40*) beat South Africa 69 (Jafta 22, Smith 3-7, Sciver-Brunt 2-5) by ten wickets

South Africa will be without striker-bowler Kagiso Rabada for today’s opening One Day International against England at Headingley, captain Temba Bavuma revealed ahead of the clash.The 30-year-old is still recovering from an ankle injury suffered in Australia, where South Africa won a three-match ODI series last month.Matthew Breetzke, who has started his ODI career with four consecutive scores of 50 or more, injured his hamstring in the second of the ODIs against Australia and also sits out the opening clash against England as a precautionary measure.Teenage pace bowler Kwena Maphaka, 19, will also not play as Bavuma said his workload was being managed, but he could yet feature in the limited overs clashes in England. The three ODIs are followed by three Twenty20 internationals.“Kwena is an exciting player; he is still probably on the raw side, but that makes him even more exciting. He is a bit more awkward to face than other lefties, and he may have a role to play in these weather conditions,” Bavuma told a press conference Monday.Veteran pinch-hitter David Miller also misses out on the ODIs but is in the squad for the T20s. He remains in contention for the 2027 World Cup squad, added Bavuma.The 36-year-old has not played international cricket since the Champions Trophy in March and missed the tour to Australia because he was playing in the Hundred competition in England.“Any international commitments that occurred during the Hundred, David wasn’t available for. Unfortunately, he wasn’t part of our build-up for the ODIs. But then with the T20 stuff, the Hundred is done, he’ll fall back into the team,” the South Africa captain explained. “David’s still within the mix in the ODI stuff,” he added.Baker to make England debut in South Africa ODIPace bowler Sonny Baker will make his England debut in the first one-day international against South Africa today after impressing in the Hundred.The 22-year-old will line up alongside Jofra Archer and Brydon Carse in a three-man pace attack at Headingley.Baker took nine wickets in seven appearances for the Manchester Originals in the Hundred franchise competition, including a hat-trick against England white-ball captain Harry Brook’s Northern Superchargers last month.“He’s been awesome in the Hundred. We’ve seen him bowl at some of the best batters in the world and he’s had them on toast,” said Brook.The skipper praised Baker’s pace, ability to swing the ball and his bowling at the end of matches.“Quite a lot of people are excited to see where he goes,” he added. “It looks like he has quite a lot about him.”The team announcement came as England all-rounder Jamie Overton ruled himself out of contention for the upcoming Ashes series in Australia, placing his red-ball career on hold.“After a great deal of thought I have decided to take an indefinite break from red-ball cricket,” the Surrey paceman posted on social media. “At this stage of my career, with the demands of cricket across a 12-month calendar, it’s no longer possible to commit fully to all formats at every level, both physically and mentally.”The 31-year-old won his second Test cap against India in late July and had a strong chance of featuring in the squad for the Ashes despite a mixed outing at the Oval. Brook was taken aback by Overton’s decision, saying: “I’m a little bit shocked to be honest. I’d heard rumours but I hadn’t heard it from him until today. It would have been nice to have him there in the Ashes. When he is fully fit and firing he bowls thunderbolts and he can whack it out of the park.”Overton was last month named in England’s white-ball squad to face South Africa but head coach Brendon McCullum has preferred Baker for the opening match. The first ODI in Leeds kicks off a three-match series against the Proteas, which is followed by three T20s.SquadsEngland team: Jamie Smith, Ben Duckett, Joe Root, Harry Brook (capt), Jos Buttler (wkt), Jacob Bethell, Will Jacks, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Sonny BakerSouth AfricaAiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton (wicketkeeper), Temba Bavuma (captain), Tony de Zorzi, Tristan Stubbs, Dewald Brevis, Wiaan Mulder, Corbin Bosch, Keshav Maharaj, Nandre Burger, Lungi Ngidi.