South Africa Win Emphatically To Setup Showdown In Decider
South Africa struck back marvellously as they outplayed Pakistan for large parts of the second One Day International in Faisalabad, winning by eight wickets in comprehensive fashion.
The swashbuckling victory was epitomised by a ton for Quinton de Kock, a sublime 76 by Tony de Zorzi, and astute, disciplined bowling, with speedster Nandre Burger the standout.
South Africa lost their seventh successive toss as they prepared to take on Pakistan two days after their defeat by 2 wickets at the same ground.
A bewildered captain Matthew Breetzke said, “I have no idea what’s going on in this country.” At this point, one needs to wonder why they bother doing the toss when Pakistan could just be allowed to make their call. Such is the luck the Proteas have had in the pre-game ritual. Breetzke was not overly perturbed, though, as South Africa made two changes to the side that lost on Tuesday. Left-arm fast bowler Nandre Burger and leg-spinner Nqaba Peter replaced Lungi Ngidi and Lizaad Williams.
The game had barely started when Nandre Burger produced an exhibition of fast bowling so high in quality that it obliterated the Pakistani top order. First, Fakhar Zaman gloved one behind trying to pull, caught behind by Quinton de Kock, before Donovan Ferreira took a wonderful catch to his left to dismiss the ever-popular and ever dangerous Babar Azam. Mohammad Rizwan was then castled, to the joy of a pumped-up Burger.
Saim Ayub and Salman Agha then worked diligently to restore the Pakistan innings, putting on a carefully constructed partnership of 92. The dependable Corbin Bosch took a sharp catch low to his left off his own bowling to break the stand. Ayub is out for 53 off 66.
Hassan Talat became the first of Nqaba Peter’s three caught-and-bowled victims. In what can be deemed as a soft dismissal, Talat was looking to clip the ball but got a leading edge to Peter, who barely had to move to take the catch.
At that stage, South Africa were still in a strong position with Pakistan 131/5 after 30 overs.
Mohammad Nawaz came to the wicket and put on a valuable 59-run stand with Agha, before the latter was bowled by Bosch with a magnificent inswinging yorker.
Faheem Ashraf sought to increase the scoring rate with 28 off 18 balls before Burger got back in the act and claimed his fourth and final scalp of the innings.
Shaheen Shah Afridi and Mohammad Nawaz both fell victim to Peter in a similar fashion, trying to go big but only succeeding in top edging for two well taken catches – that, though, wasn’t before Nawaz put on a late onslaught that reaped 16 runs off 5 balls in the final over.
Off the final ball of the innings, Naseem Shah went deep into the stands, helping Pakistan finish on a respectable and competitive 269/9 as Pakistan piled on 22 runs in the 50th over.
For South Africa, Burger (4/16), Peter (3/55), and Bosch (2/58) were the standout bowlers, while both Bjorn Fortuin and Donovan Ferreira bowled their allotted 10 overs for 46 and 41 runs, respectively.
While the score was chaseable for sure, South Africa would be disappointed with how they let the hosts take control in the backend of the innings.
Fear not, though, as we were about to witness some scintillating batting with a grace, fluency, and flair not seen from Pakistan in their innings, and rarely seen from South Africa on this tour.
Quinton de Kock announced his return to the international fold with his first century since his comeback. He enjoyed a wonderful opening partnership of 81 with Lhuan-dre Pretorius, with the 19-year-old taking to ODI cricket like a duck to water.
Pretorius looked in fine nick as he sought to intimidate and take on the bowlers – first bludgeoning Naseem Shah before going after Shaheen Shah Afridi and Muhammad Wasim – before Wasim had the last laugh, dismissing him, nicked behind.
Tony De Zorzi occupied the crease next, and the two left-handers put on a wonderful stand of 153, paving the road to victory for the Proteas.
First, he showed no fear in taking on Pakistan captain Afridi, before giving Nawaz a bit of his own medicine when he began dispatching him to different parts of the ground, taking 27 runs off 13 balls he faced from Nawaz.
De Kock reached a well-deserved century when he caressed a Muhammad Wasim ball to mid-on for two runs. His 22nd hundred was met with a calm and subdued demeanour.
De Zorzi was showing all the qualities of a stalwart at the crease and in truth, deserved a hundred as well – just as it seemed the two left-handers would take the green and gold to victory, De Zorzi got a leading edge that found Ayub at point.
Captain Breetzke stepped to the crease and added a not-out to his career stats, taking South Africa to victory with de Kock on the other end unbeaten on a superb 123 off 119 balls.
With South Africa gliding to a comfortable victory, the series is beautifully poised for its conclusion when the two sides meet for the final time on this tour on Saturday.
