South Africa vs Pakistan, 3rd Test - Live Cricket Score, Commentary

Whitewash

Duanne Olivier, Kagiso Rabada and Vernon Philander ran through the heart of Pakistan's lower-middle-order as the trio powered South Africa to a comfortable 107-run victory in the third and final Test at the Wanderers. In pursuit of a daunting target of 381, the visitors could muster just 273. With this win, the home side also completed a clean-sweep.

When the day began, Pakistan's think tank would have hoped for two of their mainstays, Babar Azam (21) and Asad Shafiq (65), to raise their game. However, Olivier troubled Babar by extracting variable bounce. The promising pacer, who through the course of the series has bowled with a fair amount of venom, soon dismissed Babar with a brute of a short delivery that 'kicked' after pitching to take the glove on its way to the 'keeper. To make matters worse for Babar, Olivier's short delivery followed the batsman all the way.

Olivier then castled Sarfraz Ahmed off the very next delivery. Vernon Philander, renowned for extracting subtle movement off the pitch, followed it up by dismissing the fulcrum of Pakistani's batting unit Shafiq. With South Africa's pacers banging it short, Faheem Ashraf employed the pull to crack a few fours before flashing at a delivery outside off, only to be caught by Aiden Makram in the slip cordon.

Hasan Ali, who came out to bat at the fall of Mohammad Amir's wicket, cracked a flurry of strokes before he was dislodged by Rabada. Shadab Khan (47*) showcased glimpses of his batting skills with eye-catching horizontal-bat shots but Pakistan's innings ended in a rather comical fashion when Mohammad Abbas was run out.

After slipping to a 0-2 series defeat in Sri Lanka, South Africa would be buoyed by their clinical show. Olivier was certainly the star performer for the hosts, finishing with 24 scalps at an astonishing average of under 15. Quinton de Kock (129 in the second innings) and Markram (90 in the first innings) also played their parts in helping South Africa to win the final Test.

Meanwhile, Pakistan have a lot of soul-searching to do. The visiting side's batsmen were found wanting against well directed bumpers and that was perhaps the key reason behind Pakistan's miserable show in the Test series. The pacers bowled with skill and heart, but struggled to match their South African counterparts in relation to hitting the deck hard.

South Africa 262 (Aiden Markram 90; Faheem Ashraf 3-57) and 303 (Quinton de Kock 129, Hashim Amla 71; Shadab Kahn 3-41) beat Pakistan 185 (Sarfraz Ahmed 50; Duanne Olivier 5-51) and 273 (Asad Shafiq 65; Duanne Olivier 3-74) by 107 runs.

Cat-like Markram has Pakistan seven down

Faheem Ashraf cuts at a short one from Rabada, and Markram moves swiftly to his left to collect an impressive catch. South Africa now inching closer to that whitewash as South Africa expose the extreme tail.

Rabada also removed Amir. South Africa just two wickets away from whitewashing Pakistan.

Olivier on a roll

On surfaces with variable bounce, Duanne Olivier can be nasty. He just hits the deck extremely hard and gets it to kick. The South African pacer continued his rich vein of form in the series by taking out Azam with a brute of a short delivery that kicked after pitching to take the glove on its way to the 'keeper.

Ideally, Azam should have kept his hands down but Olivier gets that awkward inward angle which makes it tougher for the batsman. He followed it by cleaning Sarfraz via the very next ball. He is on a roll.

Philander then followed it by dismissing the well set Shafiq. South Africa on course for a 3-0 clean-sweep.

Shafiq cracks sparkling fifty

Babar Azam had a scare when he top-edged a pull that fell just in front of the fielder at mid off. However, Shafiq continued to play with authority and soon reached his fifty with a flick off Philander.

Azhar Ali's woes

Build up:

238 more runs to get. Seven wickets in hand. Can Pakistan pull off an upset and post a consolation victory at the Wanderers? Of course, it is going to be tough as the track is offering more than enough variable bounce. South African pacers also generally hit the deck hard and that in theory would help them to extract more variable bounce.

South Africa were able to set a massive target on the back of de Kock's superlative 129 and Amla's battling 71.

Pakistan, meanwhile, would hope for Shafiq and Azam to convert starts into big scores. Both are skilful batsmen but from time to time struggle to kick on and compile big scores.

We could be in for an enthralling day of Test cricket. All the updates from the Wanderers Test in a while...