Salman Ali Agha’s all-round brilliance and Saim Ayub’s second century helped Pakistan clinch a thriller at Boland Park in Paarl and take a 1-0 lead in the ongoing three-match series.
Agha and Ayub stitched a 161-run stand for the fifth wicket and laid the foundation of Pakistan’s three-wicket win with three balls to spare on Tuesday.
The match got underway with South Africa skipper Aiden Markram calling it correctly at the toss and electing to bat first. The decision seemed right after openers Tony de Zorzi and Ryan Rickelton added 70 runs for the first wicket in 9.5 overs. After negating the opening spell from Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah, de Zorzi fell to Salman for 33 off 25 balls.
Rickelton followed de Zorzi into the South African dressing room seven balls later and the hosts conceded the early advantage. After accounting for the openers, Salman dismissed Rassie van der Dussen for 8 and gave Pakistan the upper hand. Salman claimed his fourth wicket two deliveries later as he cleaned up Tristan Stubbs for just a solitary run and reduced South Africa to 88/4 after 13.4 overs.
Skipper Markram and Heinrich Klaasen brought the Proteas back into the contest with a 73-run stand for the fifth wicket. Markram played responsibly and scored 35 before failing to dispatch a half-tracker from Saim Ayub in the 32nd over. Markram was caught at midwicket and the onus of taking South Africa to a respectable total fell entirely on the shoulders of Klaasen.
The wicketkeeper-batter kept losing his partners but took South Africa beyond 200 before Shaheen Shah Afridi brought an end to his innings on 86. Klaasen scored 86 off 97 balls with the help of seven fours and two sixes.
None of the lower-order batters chipped in with any substantial contributions as the Proteas managed 239 on the board in their 50 overs.
In reply, Pakistan got off to a nightmarish start as they lost four of their frontline batters for just 60 on the board. Pakistan were on the cusp of getting bundled out cheaply before Ayub and Agha came together in the middle and scripted a match-winning fightback.
Ayub registered his 2nd ODI century and scored 109 off 119 balls with the help of 10 fours and three sixes. Ayub fell in the 42nd over with Pakistan needing 39 more to win. Unfazed by losing his partner, Agha kept batting with aplomb and won his side the game with three deliveries to spare.
Agha displayed a heartwarming gesture during the post-match presentation as he gave his Player of the Match (POTM) award to Ayub.