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Imam misses out on century in Pakistan’s strong start to 1st test against South Africa

Pakistan's Imam-ul-Haq plays a shot during the first day of the first Test cricket match between Pakistan and South Africa at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on October 12, 2025. (AFP)
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Updated 12 October 2025
AP
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Imam misses out on century in Pakistan’s strong start to 1st test against South Africa

  • Imam played a fluent knock of 93 in his first test match after almost two years
  • Imam and Shan gave Pakistan a strong start to its new World Test Championship cycle
Updated 12 October 2025
AP

LAHORE, Pakistan: Opener Imam-ul-Haq missed out on his comeback test century as Pakistan recovered well from a brief collapse on an abrasive wicket to reach 313-5 against world champion South Africa in the first test on Sunday.
Imam played a fluent knock of 93 in his first test match after almost two years and together with captain Shan Masood, who made 76, gave Pakistan a strong start to its new World Test Championship cycle with a 161-run second-wicket stand.

The three South African spinners toiled hard but caught a break when they claimed three quick wickets without a run before Mohammad Rizwan (62 no) and Salman Ali Agha (52 no) struck unbeaten half centuries and gave Pakistan an early edge against the defending world test champion.

Both batters dominated the spinners with their strong sweep shots in a dominating final session for Pakistan that saw South Africa claiming the only wicket — struggling batter Babar Azam (23).

Rizwan had two narrow escapes before completing his half-century when captain Aiden Markram couldn’t snap a low catch in the slip and then the batter successfully overturned an lbw decision through referral.

Agha was fortunate late in the final session when Markram spilled a regulation edge after left-arm spinner Senuran Muthusamy (2-101) had created an opportunity with the second new ball on a dry wicket.

Imam and Masood controlled the spin trio of Muthusamy, Simon Harmer (1-75) and Prenelan Subrayen (1-72) after Kagiso Rabada (1-43) provided the Proteas’ breakthrough with his third ball by winning an lbw decision against Abdullah Shafique through television referral.

Both batted flawlessly against the spinners with some good running between the wickets and carried Pakistan to 107-1 by lunch. South Africa squandered two catching opportunities in Surbrayen’s successive overs that could have dismissed both left-handers in the second session.

Toni de Zorzi couldn’t grab a reflex catch off Masood at forward short leg and Wiaan Mulder couldn’t hold onto a sharp catch of Imam’s drive at mid-off.

The aggressive partnership between Imam and Masood was Pakistan’s joint-best partnership for the second wicket against South Africa, equaling Kamran Akmal and Younis Khan’s stand of 161 at the same ground in 2007.

Subrayen finally broke the stand when he had Masood trapped lbw off a fuller delivery that didn’t turn much. Then Muthusamy grabbed two wickets in two balls when de Zorzi didn’t miss another opportunity close to the wicket to end Imam’s brilliant knock.

Saud Shakeel left Muthusamy on a hat-trick when he offered a tame return catch off the leading edge as Pakistan went to tea at 199-4.

Babar had a nervy start when he overturned a caught behind decision by television referral before hitting four boundaries but he was undone by Harmer’s sharp turning delivery soon after tea as he prodded forward and South Africa won the lbw decision through the TV umpire and left Pakistan in a spot of bother at 199-5.

South Africa is coming off a 10-match winning streak that saw Temba Bavuma lead the side to the WTC title at Lord’s in a five-wicket victory over Australia in the final.

Bavuma will miss this series due to a calf injury he sustained during the limited-overs series against England, with Aiden Markram stepping in as skipper for the Proteas.

Pakistan came into the new WTC cycle with only three wins in its last 12 test matches. Off-spinner Sajid Khan has recovered from flu and will pair with left-arm spinner Noman Ali to counter a strong South African batting lineup with Salman Ali Agha providing another spin option for the home team.

Fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi will be playing his first test in a year while Pakistan also included paceman Hasan Ali, who last played in this format against Australia at Sydney in January 2024.

Qaddafi Stadium is hosting only its second test match since test cricket returned to Pakistan in 2019 after a decade in hiatus.

Topics: Pakistan v South Africa

IMF warns against policy slippage amid weak recovery as it clears $1.2 billion for Pakistan

Updated 11 December 2025
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IMF warns against policy slippage amid weak recovery as it clears $1.2 billion for Pakistan

  • Pakistan rebuilt reserves, cut its deficit and slowed inflation sharply over the past one year
  • Fund says climate shocks, energy debt, stalled reforms threaten stability despite recent gains
Updated 11 December 2025
Ismail Dilawar

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s economic recovery remains fragile despite a year of painful stabilization measures that helped pull the country back from the brink of default, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned on Thursday, after it approved a fresh $1.2 billion disbursement under its ongoing loan program.

The approval covers the second review of Pakistan’s Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and the first review of its climate-focused Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF), bringing total disbursements since last year to about $3.3 billion.

Pakistan entered the IMF program in September 2024 after years of weak revenues, soaring fiscal deficits, import controls, currency depletion and repeated climate shocks left the economy close to external default. A smaller stopgap arrangement earlier that year helped avert immediate default, but the current 37-month program was designed to restore macroeconomic stability through strict monetary tightening, currency adjustments, subsidy rationalization and aggressive revenue measures.

The IMF’s new review shows that Pakistan has delivered significant gains since then. Growth recovered to 3 percent last year after shrinking the year before. Inflation fell from over 23 percent to low single digits before rising again after this year’s floods. The current account posted its first surplus in 14 years, helped by stronger remittances and a sharp reduction in imports. And the government delivered a primary budget surplus of 1.3 percent of GDP, a key program requirement. Foreign exchange reserves, which had dropped dangerously low in 2023, rose from US$9.4 billion to US$14.5 billion by June.

“Pakistan’s reform implementation under the EFF arrangement has helped preserve macroeconomic stability in the face of several recent shocks,” IMF Deputy Managing Director Nigel Clarke said in a statement after the Board meeting.

But he warned that Islamabad must “maintain prudent policies” and accelerate reforms needed for private-sector-led and sustainable growth.

The Fund noted that the 2025 monsoon floods, affecting nearly seven million people, damaging housing, livestock and key crops, and displacing more than four million, have set back the recovery. The IMF now expects GDP growth in FY26 to be slightly lower and forecasts inflation to rise to 8–10 percent in the coming months as food prices adjust.

The review warns Pakistan against relaxing monetary or fiscal discipline prematurely. It urges the State Bank to keep policy “appropriately tight,” allow exchange-rate flexibility and improve communication. Islamabad must also continue raising revenues, broadening the tax base and protecting social spending, the Fund said.

Despite the progress, Pakistan’s structural weaknesses remain severe.

Power-sector circular debt stands at about $5.7 billion, and gas-sector arrears have climbed to $11.3 billion despite tariff adjustments. Reform of state-owned enterprises has slowed, including delays in privatizing loss-making electricity distributors and Pakistan International Airlines. Key governance and anti-corruption reforms have also been pushed back.

The IMF welcomed Pakistan’s expansion of its flagship Benazir Income Support Program, which raises cash transfers for low-income families and expands coverage, saying social protection is essential as climate shocks intensify. But it warned that high public debt, about 72 percent of GDP, thin external buffers and climate exposure leave the country vulnerable if reform momentum weakens.

The Fund said Pakistan’s challenge now is to convert short-term stabilization into sustained recovery after years of economic volatility, with its ability to maintain discipline, rather than the size of external financing alone, determining the durability of its gains.

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