Abu Dhabi, Nov 24: Misbah-ul-Haq played a captain's knock of 58 not out to salvage Pakistan a draw in the second Test against South Africa and finish the two-match series without a result.
Misbah, who scored an unbeaten 76 in the drawn first Test in Dubai last week, countered South African bowlers on a weary fifth day pitch at Abu Dhabi Stadium, taking Pakistan to 153-3 after they were set a 354-run target in 82 overs.
Misbah added 87 for an unbroken fourth wicket stand with Azhar Ali, who made 28 not out, after South Africa threatened to run away with a victory taking three wickets in the space of eight balls soon after lunch.
But Misbah, leading Pakistan for the first time in Tests, in the company of Ali foiled the away side, finishing with 10 boundaries during his 140-ball match-saving knock.
Ali, who hit three half-centuries in the previous three innings of the series, struck two boundaries and ably supported his captain.
South Africa had declared their second innings at 203-5 after batting for half an hour on the final morning, but ran out of time to enforce a result on a pitch which gave very little response to the bowlers.
Pakistan, ranked sixth in ICC (International Cricket Council) Test ranking, can take heart from their crisis-hit build-up to the series as they stopped Test's second best team from winning any of the two Tests.
Pakistan, however, have still not won any Test series since beating the West Indies at home in 2006, losing their last six and drawing four.
Pakistan had raced to 66 without loss at lunch, but off-spinner Johan Botha provided the much-needed breakthrough by trapping Taufiq Umer leg-before for 30, before Harris trapped Mohammad Hafeez (34) and Younis Khan (0) in his next over.
South Africa could have got Ali out in one Morne Morkel over, but wicket-keeper Mark Boucher hesitated to go for an edge when the batsman was on eight.
South Africa - led by Jacques Kallis after captain Graeme Smith injured his finger on Tuesday and was unable to take to the field - used five bowlers but failed to make any further inroads.
Resuming at 173-4, South Africa, looking for quick runs, added 30 in as many minutes before they declared the innings, giving their pace-cum-spin attack 82 overs to force a result.
Paceman Umar Gul removed Mark Boucher (15) in the second over of the day to check South African progress. Ashwell Prince remained unbeaten on 47, while Johan Botha finished with seven not out when the innings was declared.
Left-arm spinner Abdul Rehman, who hit a career-best 60 to save Pakistan from follow-on on Tuesday, finished with 3-81.
AB de Villiers, who hit South Africa's highest Test score of 278 not out, was declared man-of-the-match.
The Indian trio of Mairaj Ahmed Khan, Allan Daniel Peoples and Smit Singh totalled 336 in the team competition in which Qatar bagged the gold with a score of 353.
In the individual competition, Khan was the highest placed Indian at 13th with a score of 113. Peoples was 20th in the overall standings after scoring 112, while Singh was 22nd with a score of 111.
In wrestling, grapplers Ram Vir (84kg) and Pradeep Kumar (66kg) cut a sorry figure as both lost their respective bronze medal play-offs in the freestyle competition to round off another disappointing day.
Holders India stormed into the semifinals of the men's kabaddi competition along with their women counterparts after registering easy wins in their preliminary round.
India, who have grabbed every men's gold in the South Asia-invented game since its debut in 1990, drubbed Korea 37-19 to enter the last four and top the three-team Group A with four points.
Their women counterparts ran into the Koreans and crushed them 47-21 (20-11) to advance to the semis.
Indian men got the better of Qatar for the second time in the volleyball competition by beating them in straight sets during the 5-8 placement round at the Guangyao Gymnasium. PTI
