Irfan takes the wrong steps
Before South Africa's players were warned for their actions on the third day, Mohammad Irfan earned a reprimand from the umpires and was removed from the attack in the 149th over, the 15th of the day. Irfan bowled a penetrative morning spell, punctuated by pace and bounce, but his follow-through concerned the umpires, who had kept a close eye on it throughout the second day. Three balls after he won the mini-battle with JP Duminy, Irfan ran down the middle of the pitch, when delivering a ball to Faf du Plessis, and was warned for the final time. He could not bowl for the rest of the innings.
The Younis Khan fan club
It's not like Misbah-ul-Haq to get visibly irritable but he stopped play to complain to the umpires about two spectators sitting in the grandstand. Misbah spent a few minutes pointing the men out, before security guards removed the two men from their seats and escorted them out of the stadium to loud cheers. Misbah seemed satisfied with the outcome although the two evicted spectators were not. When interviewed by television reporters afterwards, the pair claimed they were goading Misbah to include Younis Khan in the ODI squad and claimed they had not done anything to merit being removed.
Time-wasting tactics
South Africa wanted to bat for as long as possible to allow the pitch to deteriorate sufficiently before Pakistan went back in, but du Plessis took the task of lengthening their innings a little too seriously. After being hit on the hand by an Irfan delivery, du Plessis spent a few deliveries wringing his hand in pain before calling for new gloves. The umpires hovered nervously while Robin Peterson brought two gloves for the same hand and had to return to the sidelines to find a proper pair. The concern the umpires showed was quickly forgotten because the innings only lasted one more ball before Imran Tahir was dismissed.
From hero to zero
Khurram Manzoor was brought back down a notch or two, after his century in Abu Dhabi, with a duck in the first innings. However, the opener followed that with a duck in the second innings. After surviving two Vernon Philander deliveries, one of which beat the outside edge, he hung his bat out to a regulation back-of-length ball that pitched just outside off and got a thick edge. Jacques Kallis had to react quickly but leapt to his right to end Manzoor's Test with a pair.
On collision course
After taking two early wickets, South Africa sensed a swift end to the match and did what they could to apply pressure. When Younis Khan fended off a Dale Steyn short ball to mid-wicket, Imran Tahir, not known for his fielding, collected and had a shy at the non-striker's stumps. His under-arm throw was off target and Dean Elgar swooped in from mid-on to save the overthrows. Instead, Elgar - the man Steyn calls the "quarter chicken" because of his diminutive size - collided into Younis and his bat, and rolled onto the ground clutching his knee. Elgar appeared to be in some pain but received treatment from the physiotherapist and was fit to carry on.