Pakistan 329 all out (Rizwan 80, Babar 73, Mafaka 4-72) def. South Africa 247 (Klassen 97, Shaheen 4-47, Naseem 3-37) all out for 82 runs
Pakistan produced their best all-round ODI performance in all three series in the last six weeks, defeating South Africa by 81 runs and securing their third consecutive ODI series win.
South Africa began the chase in the same manner as they had begun in the first innings in Paarl – with conviction and purpose. From the moment the returning Temba Bavuma collected four runs off the first ball off Afridi’s pads, South Africa were running fast and regularly breaking through the thick of the boundary to find the boundaries that would allow them to keep the asking rate under control. were necessary to keep. When Naseem Shah took the lead from the South African captain and scored the first goal, Tony De Zorzi and Rassie van der Dussen moved the ball at the same pace and South Africa were in much better position in the early powerplay.
Although the hosts were beset by a pile of wickets, Pakistan seemed to have the ability to stifle the opposition’s momentum. De Zorzi, van der Dussen and Aiden Markram all fell within 39 runs of each other, putting all the pressure on Klaasen to perform another Houdini act immediately. Along with David Miller, he appeared to have got South Africa back on track with a partnership that mixed aggression with security, scoring 72 off one ball and bringing the hosts back into the contest.
But Afridi took the opportunity to deliver perhaps his most impressive spell since an injury that halted his career somewhat two years ago. With the lights in full effect and balanced on the tackle rope, he found that bowling close to 140 km/h, bending his wrist position to take advantage of the reverse swing that suddenly appeared on offer. He put a cross to Miller, cutting him in half – or so we all thought; Afridi was sure he had kissed the inside edge, and when he went up, the technique ruled him out.
But the greatest technical precision was in Marco Jansson’s dismissal. Coming around the wicket, it bent into the middle stump before straying away, Jensen’s bat was no closer to it as it crashed into the base of middle and off. He was getting a late swing at such pace that even the umpire was struggling to pick it up, and a further review was required to establish that Andile Phehlukwayo had hit the ball before it hit his bat. , and he was actually in front.
All this time, Klaasen was fighting alone, and, as was becoming clear, losing the battle. He was particularly ruthless in defeating the previous game’s hero, Salman Agha, going on the backfoot for his trademark hook at the cow corner, and skillfully using his range to take the ball to the off side. If anything, he was guilty of not protecting the strike better as he approached his century, and in the end, when he holed out to Naseem at deep midwicket, his failed attempts to reach the century He fell out of partners.
Babar scored his first half-century in 22 innings, combining with his old friend Rizwan to form a 115-run partnership for the third wicket as Pakistan set South Africa a mammoth target of 330 runs. However, this number was not so high when both of them were batting, and only increased due to Ghulam’s quick innings, which scored 63 runs off 32 balls. They were helped by South Africa falling behind quickly in their line as well as fielding.
Pakistan’s level of urgency dropped immediately, with Babar and Rizwan opting for a more classical pace which comes naturally to them. Both were trying to work their way to scoring runs, and with South Africa happy to strangle the scoring rather than go after the wickets, for a while it looked as if the game had entered a period where Where each side is getting what they wanted.
There were still moments of combativeness, such as when Rizwan hit Markram for a six over cow corner, and Babar milked the spinners for the occasional boundary. But the asking rate remained consistently between 4.75 and 5.1, and it was clear that Pakistan were taking the innings back.
Babar had gone past 50 and looked to be heading towards that elusive century, but then he slapped Phehlukwayo straight to Markram at short midwicket, which almost stopped after hitting his chest. Mafaka dismissed Rizwan with a brilliant diving return catch and South Africa suddenly gained momentum.
But Ghulam did not pay attention to any such notion. Along with Salman, who punished some mis-bowling, Ghulam demonstrated his usefulness as a lower-order power hitter, making brilliant use of his lower arm as he hit five sixes in a blistering innings. The half-century was completed in just 25 balls, relying on both pace and spin. Irfan Niazi, Shaheen and Haris Rauf were good at hitting sixes from the other end, but until he dismissed Mafaka in the final over, and a late charge saw Pakistan score 128 runs in the last 12 overs, which was quite a feat. It was because of the slave. ,
However, this was possible because Pakistan had done something that had eliminated South Africa from the entire series. He progressed his way in the ODI innings by saving wickets. Klaasen might have been equally adept at playing the role of the slave in death, but when he got down on his knees after Pakistan’s victory, he had no one to play it.
Daniel Rasool is ESPNcricinfo’s Pakistan correspondent. @danny61000
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