Mohammad Rizwan, Salman Agha hit fifties to rescue Pakistan against South Africa on Day 1 of first Test

Shan Masood hit 76, but Haq missed out on his hundred and Pakistan slumped to 199-5 as four wickets fell quickly.

Mohammad Rizwan, 62 not out, and Salman Agha, unbeaten 52 at the close, rebuilt the innings during an unbroken sixth-wicket stand of 114 in the final session on a spin-friendly Gaddafi Stadium pitch.

Rizwan hit two fours and two sixes in his 12th Test half-century, while Agha had two fours and a six in reaching his 10th fifty.

Pakistan dominated most of the first two sessions, but then had a mini-collapse from 163-1 to 199-5 as they lost four wickets for 36 runs, the last three without adding a run either side of the tea interval.

"We have batted us to a good position," said Haq, playing his first Test since December 2023.

"We must score over 400 to get us in a strong position. Regarding missing a hundred, that's always disappointing."

Spinner Prenelan Subrayen trapped Masood lbw for 76, including nine fours and a six, to end a 161-run stand with Haq.

Left-arm spinner Senuran Muthusamy then had Haq caught at short-leg by Tony de Zorzi, after a 236-minute knock that included seven fours and a six.

Next ball -- the last before tea -- Muthusamy had Saud Shakeel caught and bowled to bring South Africa back into the game at 199-4.

Local hero Babar Azam fell for 23, trapped leg-before by Harmer after the interval to make it 199-5 and leave a good 10,000 holiday crowd disappointed.

South Africa could have been in a better position had they not dropped Masood on 61 and Haq on 72 with Subrayen the unlucky bowler on both occasions.

South Africa spinner Simon Harmer hoped they could finish off the Pakistan innings quickly on day two.

"We had a good day and now need to take positives from today and keep Pakistan under 400," he said.

"That would be great because this pitch will take more spin as the match progresses," said Harmer, who had figures of 1-75.

With the pitch likely to turn, Masood opted to bat after winning the toss and named specialist spin duo Noman Ali and Sajid Khan in the team

Pakistan lost opener Abdullah Shafique leg before to pace spearhead Kagiso Rabada off the third ball of the day.

South African captain Aiden Markram turned to his spinners in the sixth over and by lunch had used all three -- Subrayen, Harmer and Muthusamy.

But there were no further dramas in the opening session as Pakistan reached 107-1 at lunch after Haq had brought up his 10th Test fifty.

The two-match series is part of the new World Test Championship two-year cycle. South Africa won the title by beating Australia in June.

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