Pakistan captain Shan Masood hailed Babar Azam for stepping up in the absence of Saim Ayub. The youngster fractured his right ankle and was stretchered off midway through the second Test between South Africa and Pakistan at Newlands in Cape Town.

Babar scored two fifties in the New Year's Test, but his efforts were not enough to help Pakistan secure a win. Since Pakistan were playing with just 10 players, Masood praised Babar for his resilience.

"It was unfortunate that Babar got out to a shot that he plays really well. His character, stepping up and raising his hand when we lost Saim to open the innings and score back-to-back fifties, those are things that please you more than anything. There have been some characteristics from a lot of individuals in this team who have stepped up whenever required," Shan Masood said in the post-match presentation.

Babar Azam impresses

Babar scored 58 in the first innings and a fluent 81 in the second. He shared a record partnership with Shan Masood while opening for the first time in Tests for Pakistan. The opening pair stitched a 205-run partnership in the second innings, after Pakistan was forced to follow on, having crumbled to just 194 while chasing South Africa's mammoth first-innings total of 615 runs.

Despite Pakistan's fightback in the second innings, where they posted 478 runs, it wasn't enough. South Africa only needed to chase a modest target of 57 runs, which they did with ease in just 7.1 overs.

Masood pointed out that the team needed to capitalise on crucial moments, something they couldn't do in both Tests despite giving a tough fight.

"A lot of good things. We did very well in Centurion, but didn't close it out in the crunch situations. Credit to South Africa there. Even here, we didn't start well, both with bat and ball. We conceded too many runs initially, and then with the bat, we folded quite early on what was a really battable wicket. It was a really nice surface, something that surprised everyone. The fightback after that-those are the responses you look for. Individually, people stepped up, and as a team, we stepped up in many moments. We need to learn how to win the crucial moments," he added.