At the moment Muhammad Rizwan can do no wrong. The wicketkeeper-batsman was once again at the forefront of Pakistan’s chase as the visitors knocked down their highest ever chase in T20 internationals. Rizwan made an unbeaten 73 off 50 which included nine boundaries and two sixes.
Pakistan needed 11 from the final over but a combination of poor fielding and good blows from Hasan Ali at the end were enough to given them the win and go 1-0 in the series.
Chasing 189, Pakistan started cautiously with Babar Azam and Muhammad Rizwan getting just 17 in the first three overs, largely due to disciplined bowling from the Proteas. It was the fourth over when Rizwan broke the shackles and hit debutant Mangala for 20 runs. Babar was not at his fluent best and was dismissed by Beuran Hendricks inside the powerplay as he tried to hit him towards the off-side. Pakistani skipper made just 14 off 14.
Fakhar Zaman started from where he left off in the ODIs and took the attack to South African bowlers. George Linde, weary of what Zaman had done in the ODI series tried to take the ball away from his hitting zone but the batter was up for it cutting it twice through the off-side for two consecutive boundaries.
In the very next over, Zaman dispatched Tabraiz Shamsi out of the ground with a hit over mid-wicket region but the leg spinner had the last laugh as he dismissed him the very next ball. Malan took an excellent catch at the boundary. Fakhar made 27 off 19.
Muhammad Hafeez, featuring in his 100th T20I game looked good. During his short stay, he became the highest run scorer for Pakistan in the format overtaking Shoaib Malik. He went for 13 when he tried to come down the track to Shamsi and got stumped.
Haider Ali making his first appearance on the tour made a blistering start dispatching his first ball straight down the ground. He made 14 off 8 before missing a full toss from Hendricks that trapped him in front of the stumps. The very next ball Nawaz knicked one to Klassen and South Africa were right back in the game.
It was Faheem Ashraf and Muhammad Rozwan who steadied the ship, coupled with average bowling from the in experienced South African attack that fed them full tosses. The duo added 48 runs off 24 balls to dig Pakistan out of trouble
Earlier, a depleted South African team posted a formidable total on the board, thanks largely to Aiden Markram, captain Heinrich Klassen and Pite Van Biljon. Janneman Malan provided the home team with a brisk start as he raced to 24 with two sixes and two fours. Muhammad Nawaz dismissed him in his second over.
After that Aiden Markram took over and made a compact half-century. He along with Klassen added 62 runs for the third wicket to lay a perfect platform to launch. Muhammad Nawaz outdid Markram as the batter tried to hit him out towards the offside. Van Bijlon joined Klassen and the South African batsmen continued to thrash Pakistani bowlers.
At the 15th over mark, the home team were looking good to post a total in excess of 200 but a brilliant death bowling display from the Pakistani pacera saw them pick 3 for 37 in the last five. Such was the discipline, the South African batters couldn’t hit a boundary for 29 deliveries.
Muhammad Nawaz was the pick of the bowlers for Pakistan and produced a miserly spell of spin bowling. The left-armer finished with figures of 4 for 21 and bagged two wickets. Hasan Ali scalped two victims and ended with figures of 2 for 28. Usman Qadir was expensive and went for more than 12 is his three overs.
Both sides will be up against each other on Monday with Pakistan looking to go 2-0 in the series while South Africa will be hoping to learn from this experience and make a comeback.
