South Africa beat Pakistan by seven wickets courtesy of fireworks by Reeza Hendricks and Rassie van der Dussen taking the Proteas to an unassailable lead of 2-0 in the three-game T20 series.
Despite setting a good target of 207, Pakistan could not contain the South African batters at the SuperSport Park, Centurion.
Chasing a daunting target set by Pakistan, South Africa’s innings got off to a shaky start with the early dismissals of Ryan Rickleton and Matthew Breetzke.
Rickleton managed just two runs from as many balls, while Breetzke contributed 12 runs off 10 deliveries, including a boundary and a six.
Following the early setbacks, opener Reeza Hendricks held his ground, guiding the Proteas to a respectable 52 runs at the end of the powerplay. Reeza remained steady with the bat hitting 117 off 63 deliveries with seven boundaries and ten sixes.
Next up was Rassie van der Dussen, unleashed fireworks hitting 66 off 38 deliveries with three fours and five sixes.
Jahandad Khan and Abbas Afridi dismissed two and one batters, respectively.
Earlier batting first, Pakistan posted a target of 207 runs, majorly backed by Saim Ayub’s 98 off 57 deliveries.
Saim opened the innings for Pakistan with skipper Mohammad Rizwan and kept a steady flow of runs.
The skipper’s innings, however, was short-lived as he fell against Ottneil Baartman after scoring just 11 runs from 13 balls.
Saim was joined by Babar Azam who struck back-to-back fours. The Men in Green’s scoreboard was ticking at 45/1 after the powerplay came to an end.
Meanwhile, the duo continued batting steadily and took Pakistan to 90/1 at the end of the 10th over, with Saim nearing to half-century and Babar scoring 29 runs off 16 balls with the help of three fours and one six.
Saim went on to cross the 50-run mark in style as he first hit a four followed by a six to Nqabayomzi Peter.
The momentum set by the Babar-Saim partnership was broken in the next over as the former captain fell against George Linde after scoring 31 off 20 deliveries, taking Pakistan’s score to 112/2.
After Babar’s dismissal, the Proteas bowlers found themselves back in the game as Dayyaan Galiem sent Usman Khan back to the pavilion in the next over (the 13th over).
Things further turned grave for Pakistan as Tayyab Tahir also got out on the first ball of the 15th over — bowled by Galiem after scoring six.
However, Saim did not budge from the pressure and kept on hitting the South African bowlers all over the park.
Saim was then involved in yet another crucial partnership for Pakistan when he added 73 runs for the fifth wicket with middle-order batter Muhammad Irfan Khan, who played a handy 30-run cameo from just 16 deliveries.
Irfan’s dismissal in the final over paved the way for Abbas Afridi, who added valuable runs at the death with a four-ball 11, while Saim remained stranded on 98 not out.
Pakistan ended the innings with a score of 206 runs at the loss of five wickets in 20 overs. Saim Ayub top-scored for Pakistan with 57-ball 98, which featured 11 fours and five sixes.
Dayyaan Galiem and Baartman bagged two wickets each for South Africa, while Linde chipped in with a wicket.
Earlier, Pakistan had won the toss and invited South Africa to bowl first.
Playing XI
Pakistan: Mohammad Rizwan (captain and wicketkeeper), Babar Azam, Saim Ayub, Usman Khan, Tayyab Tahir, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Jahandad Khan, Haris Rauf and Abrar Ahmed.
South Africa: Reeze Hendricks, Ryan Rickelton Rassie van der Dussen, David Miller, Heinrich Klaasen (captain and wicketkeeper), Donovan Ferreira, George Linde, Dayyaan Galiem, Ottneil Baartman, Nqaba Peter and Kwena Maphaka.
This is a developing story and is being updated with further details
