Pakistan struggled to 140 for four in reply to South Africa's 357 all out in the first innings at close on day two of the second Test at the Gaddafi stadium on Tuesday.
Inzamam-ul Haq, 37, appearing in his 120th and final Test, was unbeaten on 10 alongside Misbah-ul Haq (10) after Pakistan lost four wickets in the final session despite a confident opening stand of 90 by Salman Butt (40) and Kamran Akmal (52).
Left-arm spinner Paul Harris took two wickets and pacemen Andre Nel and Dale Steyn took one each to rock Pakistan, who lost four wickets in the space of 33 runs.
Inzamam got a warm ovation from a crowd of around 5,000 and a guard of honor from the South African team as he walked into bat at the same venue where he made his debut 17-years ago.
Butt and Akmal brought up the fifty in 7.5 overs but the visiting bowlers gained control after Harris had Butt caught round the corner by Graeme Smith as the batsman top edged a sweep shot.
Nel then bowled Younis Khan (3), and Smith scooped up a low diving catch in the covers to get rid of Akmal, who hit seven fours in his sixth test fifty.
The biggest blow came with the total on 123 when Steyn trapped Mohammad Yousuf (25) leg before although television replays suggested the ball was high.
South Africa were earlier boosted by an eighth-wicket stand of 88 from 212 balls between Mark Boucher (54) and Harris (46) to frustrate the Pakistanis after resuming on their overnight 259 for six.
Scorecard
South Africa (1st innings):
H Gibbs c Misbah b Gul 13
G Smith b Kaneria 46
H Amla b Asif 10
J Kallis lbw Kaneria 59
A Prince b Rehman 63
AB de Villiers run out 45
M Boucher c Rehman b Kaneria 54
A Nel c Misbah b Gul 0
P Harris not out c Malik b Gul 46
D Steyn b Kaneria 0
M Ntini not out 0
Extras: (lb-2, w-7, nb-7, 5 penalty runs) 21
Total: (all out, 125.1 overs) 357
Fall of wickets: 1-24, 2-47, 3-100, 4-160, 5-243, 6-259, 7-259, 8-347, 9-350.
Bowling: Mohammad Asif 34-9-83-1, Umar Gul 29-4-103-3 (w-7, nb-6), Danish Kaneria 43.1-5-114-4, Abdul Rehman 14-5-30-1, Shoaib Malik 5-0-20-0 (nb-1).
Pakistan (1st innings):
Salman Butt c Smith b Harris 40
Kamran Akmal c Smith b Harris 52
Younis Khan b Nel 3
Mohammad Yousuf lbw Steyn 25
Inzamam-ul-Haq not out 10
Misbah-ul-Haq not out 10
Total: (for four wickets, 37 overs) 140
Fall of wickets: 1-90, 2-93, 3-99, 4-123
To bat: Danish Kaneria, Abdur Rehman, Umar Gul, Mohammad Asif.
Bowling: Makhaya Ntini 5-0-36-0, Dale Steyn 8-1-48-1, Andre Nel 10-3-23-1, Paul Harris 14-4-33-2.
