Keshav Maharaj believes the Proteas did enough to finish the opening day of the second Test against Pakistan on level terms.

Pakistan made the Proteas pay for their sloppiness in the field after winning the toss and batting first on a turning pitch. Shan Masood – dropped on 71 – top-scored with 87, while Abdullah Shafique, who was spilled four times, made 57.

The hosts were 259-5 at stumps with Saud Shakeel (42*) and Salman Agha (10*) at the crease.

“I think it was an even day,” said Maharaj. “We managed to control their run rate. When the ball gets softer – which happens quite quickly because the wicket’s quite hard – we managed to just go to old-fashioned Test cricket. I felt if we got one more wicket at night, we’d probably have had a little bit of an upper hand.

“As a collective we know how important catches are, not just in the subcontinent,” the left-arm spinner added. “No one means to drop catches; it was nice to see the guys bounce back and take the catches that they did. Bit frustrating but no one means to drop chances.”

Maharaj, who missed the first Test due to injury, led the fightback with two crucial wickets, including Babar Azam and Shan Masood.

He shouldered the bulk of the spin workload with 31 overs, Harmer backed him up with 23, while Muthusamy bowled just four.

“It was tactical,” said Maharaj on Muthuswamy’s limited role. “We saw that the wicket didn’t play like Lahore and we felt like we just wanted to try and restrict the Pakistani batters. Sen came back nicely with the second spell that he bowled.”

HIGHLIGHTS: Pakistan vs Proteas (2nd Test, Day 1)

Looking to day two, Maharaj added: “Tomorrow’s an important day. Hopefully, we can make inroads tomorrow morning. The main thing is to try bowling as many dot balls as we can. Hopefully we can get Saud and Agha early in the morning and open up an end with the lower-order batters.”

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