PAARL – Pakistan beat South Africa by three wickets in the ODI series opener in Paarl on Tuesday.
Chasing 240 runs target for the victory, Pakistan crossed the finish line with three wickets in hand and three balls to spare.
After losing Abdullah Shafique (0) in the second over with just two runs on the board, Saim Ayub (109) and Babar Azam (23) put on 44 runs together to steady the ship. The fall of three wickets in a space of 14 runs again put the visitors on the back foot.
Saim Ayub and Salman Agha (82 not out) stitched a match-winning 141-run partnership for the fifth wicket to take the team close to the victory target. Despite losing three wickets at the later stage, Salman Agha and Naseem Shah (9) kept their nerves to take the team over the line.
Kagiso Rabada and Ottneil Baartman bagged two wickets each while Tabraiz Shamsi and Macro Janseen took one wicket each. Salman Agha was named player of the match for his all-round performance.
After winning the toss and opting to bat first, Tony de Zorzi (33) and Ryan Rickelton (36) provided South Africa a solid start with a 70-run opening partnership.
Salman Agha took four wickets to put South Africa on the back foot. Top scorer Heinrich Klaasen (86) and skipper Aiden Markram (35) stitched a 73-run partnership for the fifth wicket to put the hosts back on track.
After losing skipper, Klaasen and Marco Jansen (10) put another 50-run partnership to take the team score to 211. As wickets fell regularly, South Africa reached 239/9 in the allocated 50 overs.
Besides the career-best bowling performance by Salman Agha (4/32), Abrar Ahmed bagged two wickets and Shaheen Shah Afridi and Saim Ayub one each while Kagiso Rabada (11) was run out on the last ball of the innings.
South Africa Playing XI: 1 Tony de Zorzi, 2 Ryan Rickelton, 3 Rassie van der Dussen, 4 Aiden Markram (capt), 5 Tristan Stubbs, 6 Heinrich Klaasen, 7 Marco Jansen, 8 Andile Phehlukwayo, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 Ottneil Baartman, 11 Tabraiz Shamsi
Pakistan Playing XI: 1 Saim Ayub, 2 Abdullah Shafique, 3 Babar Azam, 4 Mohammad Rizwan (wk/capt), 5 Kamran Ghulam, 6 Salman Agha, 7 Irfan Khan, 8 Shaheen Afridi, 9 Naseem Shah, 10 Haris Rauf, 11 Abrar Ahmed
