After being sent into bat first, South Africa were hit by three early blows – both openers along with their new captain Temba Bavuma all departed with just 43 runs on the board. The wicket of Heinrich Klassen made matters from bad to worse for them. However, a 116-run partnership for the fifth wicket between Rassie van der Dussen and David Miller helped South Africa recover and post a competitive total on the board.
The 5th wicket stand was broken with the departure of Miller on 50 but van der Dussen continued on his merry way to register his maiden ODI century. He remained undefeated on 123* as South Africa finished their innings with 273/6 on the board in 50 overs. Among Pakistan bowlers, Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf bagged 2 wickets each while Mohammad Hasnain and Faheem Ashraf picked up a wicket each.
Pakistan captain Babar Azam (103 off 104) and opener Imam-ul-Haq (70 off 80) nicely set up the chase with a 179-run stand for the second wicket. With contributions from Mohammad Rizwan (40 off 52) and Shadab Khan (33 off 30), Pakistan marched towards the target and only need 3 runs to win from the final over. However, the wicket of Shadab Khan in the first delivery helped South Africa to make a comeback in the match!
Proteas all-rounder Andile Phehlukwayo bowled 3 more consecutive dot deliveries to bring down the equation to 3 runs from 2 balls. Faheem scored those required runs taking Pakistan over the line with 3 wickets in hand. Anrich Nortje was the pick of South African bowlers in this match. Despite conceding 11 runs from his first over, he finished with bowling figures of 4/51 in his 10 overs. On a lighter note, a no-ball bowled by Lungi Ngidi in the 49th over and 7 runs that were scored in the following 2 deliveries helped Pakistan to leave just 3 runs for the final over.
On a sad note, South Africa lost their first match with Temba Bavuma as captain. Pakistan are now leading the 3-match series by 1-0. The second ODI of the series is scheduled to be played at The Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg on Sunday (Apr 04).
Brief Scores: Pakistan – 274/7 in 50 overs (Babar Azam – 103, Imam-ul-Haq – 70, Anrich Nortje – 4/51, Andile Phehlukwayo – 2/56) defeated South Africa – 273/6 in 50 overs (Rassie van der Dussen – 123, David Miller – 50, Shaheen Shah Afridi – 2/61, Haris Rauf – 2/72) by a margin of 3 wickets
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