Proteas Tour To Pakistan Ends Timidly
The third and final One Day International between South Africa and Pakistan was nicely set up for a thrilling conclusion as both sides went into the decider with the series locked at one-all. What followed, though, was a timid finale bringing the series to a hushed close.
Against the odds, South Africa won the toss for the first time on tour, across all formats. Deciding to bat first was, in hindsight, a poor decision, and the Proteas might have been better off losing the beleaguered toss.
As has been the case during this series, the opening partnership of Quinton de Kock and Lhuan-dre Pretorius put up a solid stand of 72 – these two beginning to develop a wonderful understanding – before Pretorius was caught off the bowling of Salman Agha.
Just 15 runs later, Agha claimed another victim, Tony de Zorzi.
With runs hard to come by on a slow, low Faisalabad wicket, it was the in-form de Kock who made his way back to the dressing room with the score on 106 – de Kock’s score of 53 with a strike rate of 75.71 being an indication of the conditions South Africa had to negotiate.
De Kock did surpass a momentous milestone – becoming the second fastest batter to reach 7000 runs in ODI cricket, with only fellow countryman Hashim Amla doing it faster.
That was as good as it got for Matthew Breetzke’s charges as the Abrar Ahmed show commenced. Abrar tore through the middle order with ruthless ferocity, claiming the wickets of debutant Rubin Hermann, in for an injured Sinethemba Qeshile, Donovan Ferreira, and Corbin Bosch.
Hermann was all at sea, bowled after failing to pick the googly. Ferreira was bowled after attempting a sweep and missing, and Bosch was bowled after being undone by the low bounce.
Breetzke was Abrar’s fourth victim, but not before Muhammad Nawaz dismissed Bjorn Fortuin.
In that period, South Africa crumbled, losing 5 wickets for a paltry 21 runs.
With the green and gold staring at the inevitable, the lower order, in particular Nqaba Peter, tried offering some resistance, but this was short-lived as Pakistan captain, Shaheen Shah Afridi, took two wickets in two balls to end the South African innings on a meagre 143 all out.
SOUTH AFRICA – 143 ALL OUT
De Kock 53, Pretorius 39
Abrar 4/27, Afridi 2/18, Salman Agha 2/18
When Nandre Burger bowled Fakhar Zaman for a duck off the second ball, in consecutive matches, the scene was set for a tense chase.
This was further supported by Pakistan’s tentative start, as both Saim Ayub and Babar Azam took some time to get going. The floodgates soon opened, however, as Pakistan picked up the scoring rate substantially, soaring to 59 off the first ten overs.
With Pakistan’s score moving to 65, Babar was run out for 27 attempting a third run.
Saim continued to bat with confidence, having the series, showcasing his range of strokes. As it looked like he would bat through the innings and deservedly take Pakistan to victory, he succumbed to Ferreira at long-on off the bowling of Fortuin.
Pakistan ended the innings in definitive style as Rizwan hit Peter for six before Salman Agha hit the very next ball of the new over, by Fortuin, for four.
Pakistan won the game by 7 wickets in front of a buoyant Faisalabad crowd who had come out in numbers for all three ODIs.
Pakistan won their first home ODI series against South Africa, and for Shaheen Shah Afridi, it’s his first series victory as ODI skipper.
South Africa will take solace in the performances of the returning Quinton de Kock, youngster Lhuan-dre Pretorius, and speedster Nandre Burger as they shift their focus to their all-format tour of India from 14 November to 19 December.
