First Test, Dubai (day one, stumps):
South Africa 311-3 v Pakistan
Match scorecard

Smith has 22 Test centuries behind his name in a fine career

Graeme Smith hit his 22nd Test century as South Africa made 311-3 on day one of the first Test against Pakistan.

The match in Dubai was the first played by either team since Pakistan wicketkeeper Zulqarnain Haider walked out over match-fixing concerns.

Smith and fellow opener Alvaro Petersen (67) put on 153, with Smith overtaking Allan Border to become the top-scoring Test captain before falling for 100.

Hashiam Amla (80) and Jacques Kallis (53no) pushed the score along to 311-3.

Smith now has 6,664 runs in 79 Tests as skipper, 41 runs more than Australia's Allan Border managed in 93 matches as captain.

"I am proud of the record," said Smith, who hit eight boundaries in his 152-ball 100.

"It wasn't something I thought of before but it's an honour to be among the greats."

But it could have been a very different story if things had gone Pakistan's way at the start.

Pace bowlers Umar Gul and Wahab Riaz were unfortunate not to pick up at least one early wicket at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, which is hosting its first Test while Pakistan use the United Arab Emirates as a temporary home base.

Gul should have had the wicket of Petersen in the third over, but umpire Daryl Harper failed to spot an edge to debutant wicketkeeper Adnan Akmal, the third Akmal brother to play Test cricket.

Smith survived successive leg before wicket scares in each of the next two overs, as Gul and Riaz extracted some seam movement.

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But once spin was introduced in the 10th over the pressure was released, allowing South Africa to score a little more freely.

South Africa were 101-0 at lunch and Smith, upon passing 50, hit a flurry of boundaries to ramp up the scoring rate.

Petersen finally fell when pulling a poor, short-pitched delivery from Abdur Rehman to midwicket, but Smith carried on and reached his century in due course.

He then departed to another poor ball, picking out Taufeeq Umar at deep backward square leg off a Riaz long-hop.

At tea, South Africa were 197-2, before Amla and Kallis took toll of a flagging attack to add a further 110 in the final session before Adnan Akmal threw himself to his right to take a good catch off Riaz.

Gul was again luckless with the second new ball, before Kallis and Paul Harris were taken off the field by the umpires halfway through the final over because of poor light.

Pakistan had been dealt a major blow before the toss when veteran Mohammad Yousuf was ruled out after picking up a leg injury.

It meant there was a completely new top four in place from their last Test outing against England in August and a total of seven changes from that infamous match at Lord's, including a fourth captain of the year in Misbah-ul-Haq.

The South Africans opted for spinners Harris and Johan Botha in their attack and there was also a place for Ashwell Prince in the line-up ahead of JP Duminy.

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