Johannesburg – South Africa inflicted more pain on Pakistan after declaring with a lead of 479 and taking a wicket before lunch on the third day of the first Test against Pakistan at the Wanderers on Sunday.
South Africa resumed on 207/3 and continued their dominance over the tourists, with Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers scoring a flurry of runs to increase their lead.
They surpassed their own previous best fourth-wicket stand of 147 at the Wanderers, by adding an unbeaten 176, off 217 balls, before skipper Graeme Smith waved them back into the pavilion.
Smith waited for De Villiers to complete his 15th Test century – which came off 117 balls and included 11 boundaries – before calling in his men with the score on 275 for three.
De Villiers was on 103 and Amla 74 not out at the time of the declaration.
With over an hour to bat before the break, Pakistan survived two hostile overs from Dale Steyn and it was Vernon Philander who made the breakthrough at the end of his second over.
Mohammad Hafeez (2), looking to play Philander down the leg side, got an edge and De Villiers took an outstanding catch to dismiss him.
While the ball kept low at times, Nasir Jamshed and Azhar Ali both played some magnificent shots and steered their side to 47/1 in the 14 overs Pakistan faced before lunch – with a daunting task of scoring another 433 runs to avoid defeat.
Nasir Jamshed was on 39 and Azhar Ali on 5 at the break. – Sapa