South Africa beat Pakistan in first T20I fixture
Cricket
Linde's all-round brilliance helps South Africa win
DURBAN (Dunya News) – South Africa restricted Pakistan to 172 in their 184 runs chase to win series’ first T20I by 11 runs.
George Linde backed his quick-fire 48 with four-wicket haul and steered South Africa to an 11-run victory over Pakistan in the first T20I of the three-match series here at the Kingsmead Stadium on Tuesday.
Chasing a daunting 184-run target, the green shirts could accumulate 172/8 in the allotted 20 overs despite skipper Mohammad Rizwan’s half-century.
The touring side had a shaky start to the pursuit as their star batter Babar Azam perished for a four-ball duck in the third over with the scoreboard reading 16/1.
Following the early hiccup, Saim Ayub put together a one-sided 40-run partnership for the second wicket with Rizwan before falling victim to Andile Simelane in the seventh over.
The left-handed batter scored a quick 31 off just 15 balls with the help of seven boundaries.
Rizwan, who batted cautiously until the 16th over, finally switched gears and smashed Kwena Maphaka for two sixes in the following over.
The right-handed batter eventually walked back on the second delivery of the final over when he skied a Maphaka’s short delivery outside off towards the third-man region, where Nqabayomzi Peter took an easy catch.
He remained the top-scorer for Pakistan with a 62-ball 74, which featured five fours and three sixes.
Maphaka then displayed nerves of steel and conceded only six runs off the remaining four deliveries and led his side to an 11-run victory in the series opener.
For South Africa, Linde bagged four wickets, followed by Kwena Maphaka with two, while Ottneil Baartman and Simelane made one scalp apiece.
Earlier, David Miller’s timely 82 helped South Africa set a mammoth target of 184 runs for Pakistan in first T20I at Kingsmead Stadium in Durban on Tuesday.
Pakistani bowlers managed to put pressure on hosts in early overs as Abrar Ahmed and Shaheen Afridi removed their top order in first four overs.
Opener Reeza Hendricks was dismissed for eight runs while Rassie Van Der Dussen went for duck and Matthew Breetzke scored eight runs before Abrar removed him on fourth delivery of his second over.
At this point, David Miller rescued his side as he made 82 off 40 balls. Skipper Heinrich Klassan was removed for 12 runs. After their removal, George Linde from middle order scored 48 runs, helping his side to set a giant total of 183 runs.
For Pakistan, Abrar Ahmed and Shaheen Afridi took three wickets each while Abbas Afridi claimed two wickets.
Earlier, Proteas won the toss and opted to bat first against Pakistan.
The Pakistani team made extensive preparations for the T20 series against South Africa, with training sessions held at Kingsmead Stadium.
National team captain Mohammad Rizwan expressed confidence that the team would perform well, just as they did in Australia and Zimbabwe.
He emphasised that Pakistan's new players were full of talent, though overseas series are always challenging.
All-rounder Salman Ali Agha has been left out of Pakistan’s playing XI for the first T20I.
Agha, who led Pakistan in the recently-concluded three-match away T20I series against Zimbabwe, managed to score just 45 runs in two innings, besides taking two wickets, and thus lost his spot in the team’s playing XI.
The recently unveiled lineup also marks the return of Pakistan’s established opening pair of star batter Babar Azam and white-ball skipper Mohammad Rizwan, while Saim Ayub has been demoted to bat at number three, with wicketkeeper batter Usman Khan to follow.
Pakistan’s playing XI: Mohammad Rizwan (c), Babar Azam, Saim Ayub, Usman Khan, Tayyab Tahir, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Abbas Afridi, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Sufiyan Muqeem and Abrar Ahmed.
