FAISALABAD -Pakistan beat South Africa by two wickets in the ODI series opener at Faisalabad’s Iqbal Stadium on Tuesday.
Chasing a decent 264-run target for victory, Pakistan crossed the finish line with two wickets in hand and two balls remaining.
Salman Ali Agha was the top scorer with 62 off 71 balls, hitting five fours and one maximum. Mohammad Rizwan contributed a valuable 55 off 74 balls, laced with six boundaries. Fakhar Zaman made 45 off 57 balls with the help of four fours and two huge sixes, and Saim Ayub 39 off 42 balls, hitting four fours and one maximum.
Hussain Talat contributed 22 off 25 balls with the help of two boundaries. Lungi Ngidi, Donovan Ferreira and Corbin Bosch took two wickets each, while George Linde and Bjorn Fortuin got one wicket each. Salman Ali Agha was named player of the match for his outstanding contribution with the bat.
After being put into bat by skipper Shaheen Shah Afridi, Quinton de Kock (63) and Lhuan-dre Pretorius (57) provided a good start to the Proteas with a solid 98-run opening partnership.
After that, South Africa continued to lose wickets at regular intervals and were bowled out for 263 in 49.1 overs. Skipper Matthew Breetzke contributed 42 off 54 balls, Corbin Bosch 41 off 40 balls, Sinethemba Qeshile 22 off 23 balls, and Tony de Zorzi 18 off 20 balls.
Naseem Shah and Abrar Ahmed bagged three wickets each and Saim Ayub two, while Shaheen Shah Afridi and Mohammad Nawaz got one wicket apiece.
South Africa Playing XI: Quinton de Kock (wk), Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Tony de Zorzi, Matthew Breetzke (capt), Sinethemba Qeshile, Donovan Ferreira, George Linde, Corbin Bosch, Bjorn Fortuin, Lungi Ngidi, Lizaad Williams
Pakistan Playing XI: Fakhar Zaman, Saim Ayub, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Salman Agha, Hussain Talat, Hasan Nawaz, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Shah Afridi (capt), Naseem Shah, Abrar Ahmed
