By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Pakistan beat South Africa by four wickets in an exciting first fixture of the four-match T20I series at Johannesburg which went down to the wire.
They reached the target of 189 with just 1 ball to spare, and now, Pakistan lead the series 1-0.
Excluding wins coming via Super Over, this was Pakistan’s 100th win.
Man-of-the-Match Mohammad Rizwan led Pakistan to victory with his unbeaten 74, comprising two sixes and nine fours.
Faheem Ashraf’s 30 off 14 balls also proved to be beneficial for the team in the end. However, the batting line up otherwise could not produce much runs, as skipper Babar Azam scored 14 runs, Fakhar Zaman 27 runs, Mohammad Hafeez 13 runs, and Haider Ali 14 runs.
Protea’s sloppy fielding let Pakistan stay afloat in the last over and helped Hassan Ali take the risk and hit out for the winning runs.
South Africa, missing several of their regulars, handed a debut to three players — Wihan Lubbe, Sisanda Magala, and Lizaad Williams —and their naivete was at full display.
When the match was in their favour late in the second innings, Proteas bowlers unleashed a flurry of full tosses, which when coupled with uncharacteristically poor fielding, helped Pakistan over the finish line.
Five key players from the Proteas squad — Quinton de Kock, David Miller, Anrich Nortje, Kagiso Rabada, and Lungi Ngidi — have departed for the Indian Premier League.
SOUTH AFRICA: Janneman Malan, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen (capt & wk), Wihan Lubbe, Pite van Biljon, George Linde, Andile Phehlukwayo, Sisanda Magala, Beuran Hendricks, Lizaad Williams, Tabraiz Shamsi
PAKISTAN: Babar Azam (capt), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Fakhar Zaman, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Mohammad Hafeez, Haider Ali, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Usman Qadir, Haris Rauf.