Proteas assistant coach Enoch Nkwe says the team is optimistic about winning the second Test after making a good start to their run chase on Sunday.

Aiden Markram and Rassie van der Dussen presented the South Africans with a solid platform to possibly reach the target of 370 that Pakistan set.

The pair reached stumps on 127-1 with Markram unbeaten on 59 and Van der Dussen two runs short of a half-century.

READ: Markram, Van der Dussen offer Proteas lifeline

‘Every opportunity we get must always be to win. After the first Test we had review where we are as a unit and areas that we need to improve on. Looking into this Test match, we have actually brought ourselves nicely into the game and we believe we can actually win this game,’ Nkwe said.

‘That’s the mindset we’ve got to keep going ahead with and hopefully Rassie and Markram carry on with the partnership that they have now and make it as big as possible. We want to build big and strong partnerships. If the opportunity is there to speed up the game but we need to handle the pressure as well as we can so hopefully that carries on tomorrow.’

Both Markram and Van der Dussen looked in great shape as they saw out the day with an aggressive approach towards the Pakistan bowlers.

Nkwe added that they’ve been working on getting the batsmen to play with more freedom, while out in the middle.

‘We encourage the guys to be themselves, to free their minds and to be clear in their game plans. If there is opportunity then we have got to be ready to pounce on it. We have noticed that there have been a couple of loose balls. We got to make sure we capitalise on those loose balls but in terms of our intensity from a mental point of view that we are ready.