Shaheen Afridi returned four wickets as South Africa folded up for 248 in the second One-Day International at Newlands in Cape Town to hand Pakistan a comfortable series-winning 81-run victory, on Thursday. Heinrich Klaasen’s 97 went in vain as South Africa were outplayed to hand Pakistan an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
South Africa made a steady start in the run chase, with Temba Bavuma whipping Shaheen Afridi for a boundary off the first ball. Four overs later Tony de Zorzi whipped an incoming delivery by the pacer over the fence. But the 34-run alliance between the openers came to an end at the end of the sixth over, with Bavuma getting caught by Haris Rauf in the deep.
Zorzi hit three crisp boundaries off Shaheen and Naseem, but was cleaned up by Abrar Ahmad six overs later. The Pakistani spinners, yet again, troubled the hosts. Agha and Abrar choked the run-scoring through the middle overs and built up the pressure. It first led to the dismissal of Rassie van der Dussen, whose attempted big hit off Agha was pouched at deep mid wicket.
Klaasen smashed a couple of boundaries off Agha, but South Africa struggled to gain the momentum. Naseem ut down a catch two overs later, and then Markram was trapped legbefore by Abrar. Klaasen and David Miller steadied the innings briefly, with frequent rotation of strike and some odd attempts to hit big. Just as they pushed the scoring rate higher with three boundaries ina space of six balls, Shaheen returned to the attack and had Miller caught behind on 29.
With a long tail to offer company, Klaasen went on the offensive and smoked two sixes in the next over. Rightly so. There wasn’t much support coming his way from the other end as Marco Jansen, Andile Phehlukwayo and Kagiso Rabada departed cheaply to the pace pair of Shaheen and Naseem. Klaasen waged a lone battle, but the victory had gone way out of sight by then.
Earlier in the day, a century stand by Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, followed by a brisk 32-ball 63, paved the way for Pakistan’s total of 329. The visitors, put in to bat, lost Abdullah Shafique for a second-ball duck in the opening over, but rebuilt the innings at the back of some useful partnerships.
Saim Ayub and Babar put on a 48-run stand before the former fell just towards the end of the Powerplay. Nonetheless, Babar and Rizwan ensured that Pakistan kept the momentum with them. Initially, they were busy with running singles in the middle, with Rizwan taking the odd risks. But once they settled in, they took the attack to the South African bowlers, especially Rizwan.
He deposited Jansen and Bjorn Fortuin for sixes en route to his half-century mark and then smoked three boundaries in an over of Kwena Maphaka, who eventually had the Pakistan captain dismissed on 80 courtesy a fine low, return catch. A few overs earlier, Babar was caught pulling Andile Phehlukwayo to mid wicket.
Despite both the set batters falling in quick succession, Pakistan didn’t let the momentum slip away. They kept the attack going, especially Ghulam, who got going by smacking Phehlukwayo for a boundary and a six. He spared no one in his late assault, taking down Fortuin, Jansen and Shamsi with equal disdain. He was ably supported by the rest of the batters around him. Agha Salman (30-ball 33), Irfan Khan (16-ball 15) and Shaheen Afridi (9-ball 16) all chipped in with useful cameos in the death overs.
There were ample moments of brilliance on the field, including two run outs, by the hosts but there were also three dropped catches to regret. South Africa picked four wickets in six balls to bundle out the visitors but not before they had caused enough damage.
Brief Scores: Pakistan 329 in 49.5 overs (Mohammad Rizwan 80, Babar Azam 73, Kamran Ghulam 63; Kwena Maphaka 4-72, Marco Jansen 3-71) beat South Africa 248 in 43.1 overs (Heinrich Klaasen 97, Tony de Zorzi 34; Shaheen Afridi 4-47, Naseem Shah 3-37) by 81 runs
© Cricbuzz
