Written by: Abhai Sawkar

South Africa made pretty short work of a chase of 270, as they blanked Pakistan by 8 wickets in Faisalabad following a narrow loss in the first game.

Having chosen to bat first, the hosts lost Fakhar Zaman in the first over. Babar Azam and Mohammed Rizwan also fell cheaply in the 5th over. Left-arm pacer Nandre Burger accounted for all three early wickets.

However, Pakistan managed to consolidate after the initial blows they were dealt with. Saim Ayub reined in his usual aggressive approach, and Salman Ali Agha did well to occupy the crease. The duo added 92 runs between them over the course of the next 20 overs. But the return of Corbin Bosch brought about a key breakthrough, as he took a sharp return catch to dismiss Saim.

The introduction of legspinner Nqaba Peter gave the Proteas yet another wicket, as Hussain Talat also gave a caught-and-bowled. But having said that, Pakistan would inflict a momentum shift in the final 10 overs.

Mohammed Nawaz made a brilliant run-a-ball 59, and Faheem Ashraf’s cameo also helped boost the run rate above 5 an over, and Naseem Shah hit the final delivery for 6 to close things out. In spite of the late kick, it seemed like they were slightly short on runs on the board.

Burger was the pick of the bowlers with 4 wickets, while Bosch and Peter also contributed well with 5 wickets between them.

The chase was off to a pleasant start, as Lhuan-dre Pretorius and Quinton de Kock were severe on any mistakes from the Pakistani seamers. Mohammed Wasim managed to bring some respite when he got Pretorius to edge behind, but that would be the only success for the hosts as the innings progressed.

Fans got to witness the vintage QdK, as he hit as many sixes as fours in his entertaining masterclass of a knock. Soon enough, Tony de Zorzi joined the fun and took apart Nawaz for 17 runs in his first over. There was no stopping both the left-handers, as they made batting look so easy and effortless as the overs went on. Both would reach key milestones, with de Kock notching up a domineering 22nd ODI ton.

In the 35th over, Faheem dismissed de Zorzi, but it was too little too late, as there were only 36 runs in the bank. Skipper Matthew Breetzke arrived and helped clean up the remainder of the total, as the Proteas raced their way to a brilliant comeback win.

While de Kock didn’t enjoy the T20I series, it’s been a fairytale return for him in the ODI series thus far. The Proteas have clearly gotten a shot in the arm upon his availability for international cricket, and they’ll look to seal the deal on Sunday.

PAK 269/9 in 50 overs (Salman 69, Nawaz 59, Saim 53 – Burger 10-0-46-4)

SA 270/2 in 40.1 overs (de Kock 123*, de Zorzi 76)