Another spin challenge for South Africa as Maharaj set to return for final Test against Pak

World Test champion South Africa will be heavily relying on its fit-again spinner Keshav Maharaj to level the two-Test series against Pakistan as yet another dry pitch is prepared for the second Test, starting on Monday.

Pakistan notched an emphatic 93-run victory inside four days on a turning wicket in Lahore in the opening Test of the new World Test Championship cycle for both teams with left-arm spinner Noman Ali bagging a match-haul of 11 wickets.

Maharaj missed out on the first Test because he was recovering from a groin injury back home, but his return will bolster South Africa's inexperienced spin resources that lacked discipline at times in the first Test.

The formula of preparing turning pitches has helped Pakistan beat England 2-1 before drawing 1-1 against the West Indies earlier this year.

“Great to have him (Keshav) back in the camp, he brings lots of experience and really good skill sets as well,” South Africa captain Aiden Markram said on Sunday.

“It's an opportunity for us to (not only) level this series, but also to keep improving in these conditions and fixing some of the stuff that we feel needs fixing from the first game.”

Maharaj is the most successful South African Test spinner with 203 wickets in 59 test matches and is likely to team up with another left-arm spinner, Senuran Muthusamy, who took 11 wickets at Lahore and was twice denied a hat-trick.

South African middle-order batters found it tough to negotiate Pakistan spin duo Noman and Sajid Khan in Lahore and conceded a 109-run first-innings lead despite Tony de Zorzi scoring a gritty 104 and Ryan Rickleton reaching 71.

Markram said his batters have to adapt to spin conditions quickly.

“We're expecting the same (spin wicket),” Markram said.

“When you get to spinning conditions, the guessing game is always how long until it really starts to spin exaggeratedly … we'll have to assess that as quick as we can.”

Markram, who is leading the side in the absence of Temba Bavuma, himself struggled, scoring 3 and 20 before falling to Noman in the first test.

“I feel like I'm mentally in a really good space and very hungry to contribute towards the team and lead from the front,” he said.

“We know how this game works, it doesn't always work out, but as I always do, live and die with my heart on my sleeve and give it a good fight.”

Pakistan's top-order batters were among the runs after the hosts won the all-important toss at Lahore with captain Shan Masood, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Rizwan and Salman Ali Agha all hitting meaningful half-centuries in a strong first-innings score of 378.

Babar Azam also showed signs of his return to batting form with a knock of 42 off 72 balls in the second innings when Abdullah Shafique (41) and Saud Shakeel (38) also made useful contributions.

A dry surface could encourage Pakistan to include leg-spinner Abrar Ahmed as a third specialist slow bowler to team up with Noman and Khan. Red-ball head coach Azhar Mahmood said a final decision will be taken before the toss on Monday.

“We might go with a 3-1 combination because the wicket looks very dry,” Mahmood said. “We have a settled top seven, but we will see tomorrow whether we tinker with our bowling line-up or not.”