South Africa wrapped up the first Test against Pakistan before lunch on day four, winning by 211 runs as Dale Steyn bagged 11 wickets in the match and AB de Villiers equalled the catching record at the Wanderers.
Steyn recorded figures of 11 for 60 in the match, his best ever, while De Villiers took 11 catches behind the stumps, drawing level with England’s Jack Russell, who took the same number at the same venue.
Pakistan started the day on 183 for four, with Misbah-ul-Haq and Asad Shafiq both well set after a strong resistance the previous evening. Jacques Kallis and Morne Morkel took the old ball, and the batsmen scored some quick runs in the first few minutes.
But then the new ball arrived, along with the bowing change that brought Steyn into the attack, and he struck almost immediately. Shafiq could not cope with the pace provided and was the first to fall, edging the ball to Kallis at third slip.
Once he departed for 56, Misbah did what often happens when a partnership breaks: He fell too. The skipper had made 64 valiant runs, but could not avoid a peach of a delivery as Steyn caught the outside edge to De Villiers.
Vernon Philander then got in on the action and sent Sarfraz Ahmed packing for six, the wicketkeeper catching a bottom edge as he tried to get the bat out the way, and the ball cannoned into the stumps.
De Villiers then got his 10th catch of the match, breaking the South African record of nine, when Morkel got Saeed Ajmal to edge it. His 11th, the one to equal Russell’s record, came soon after as Umar Gul nicked Steyn. This gave Steyn his 10th scalp of the game.
The Proteas opted to take the extra half hour before lunch as they needed only one wicket, the deficit still over 200. Steyn wrapped up the game in this remaining time, ensuring his second five-fer of the game when he trapped Junaid Khan in front.
The tour now moves to Cape Town, where Pakistan need to win at Newlands to keep the series alive, starting on 14 February.
