SA vs Pakistan: Reachable milestones at the Wanderers

South Africa head to the Wanderers for the final Test of the three-match series against Pakistan with an unassailable 2-0 lead. ANITHA MADIKIZELA looks at the stats ahead of the encounter.

Dale Steyn has been breaking records all over the park during the series and has plenty more ahead of him, while Hashim Amla has been slowly making his way up the charts of South Africa’s leading run-scorers in Test cricket.

Proteas milestones to watch out for

Amla is 135 runs away from eclipsing Graeme Smith’s 9,253 Test career runs. If he can get the runs at Wanderers, he’ll be South Africa’s second-highest run scorer of all time. He’s also 78 runs away from surpassing AB de Villiers as the third-highest Proteas run-scorer against Pakistan.
Dean Elgar needs 141 more runs to reach 3,500 Test career runs. Having been handed the skipper’s armband following Faf du Plessis’s suspension, he would be keen to mark the occasion with a milestone.
Kagiso Rabada is still 39 runs away from 500 career runs. He’s been smashing his way to the milestone throughout the series and will hope to reach the milestone on his domestic home ground.
Du Plessis is 92 runs from reaching 3,500 career runs, but will unfortunately not get the opportunity at Wanderers due to the ICC’s decision to ban him for the final Test match.

Pakistan milestones to watch out for

Asad Shafiq needs 86 runs to eclipse former Test captain Misbah-ul-Haq as Pakistan’s fourth highest run-scorer against South Africa.
Imam-ul-Haq is 95 runs away from 500 Test career runs and will be keen to reach the milestone in his 10th match.
Azhar Ali still needs 34 more runs to reach 500 against South Africa. He needed 78 runs going into the first Test in Centurion, and with a series average of just 11.00 he’ll be hoping to get to the milestone and add plenty more runs before the series is over.

Records at the Bullring

Steyn is only two wickets away from making the Wanderers the third venue where he has picked up 50 or more Test wickets, having already achieved the mark at Newlands (74) and Centurion (59). He also needs six more to claim top spot for himself on the all-time Test wicket-takers list at the Wanderers – Makhaya Ntini and Shaun Pollock currently share the record with 53 wickets apiece.
Amla is currently 116 runs away from eclipsing Jacques Kallis as the highest Test run-scorer at the Wanderers and will be keen to surpass the great man’s 1148 runs at the iconic venue.

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