Saeem Ayub’s brilliant knock of 98 off 57 balls set South Africa a target of 207 in the second T20I at Centurion Park on Friday.
On behalf of Pakistan, Saim opened the innings along with captain Mohammad Rizwan and kept up the steady flow of runs.
The skipper’s innings, however, was short-lived as he fell to Otniel Bartman after scoring just 11 runs off 13 balls.
Saim was joined by Babar Azam who hit back-to-back fours. Green’s scoreboard had Men ticking at 45/1 after the Powerplay ended.
Meanwhile, the duo continued to bat steadily and took Pakistan to 90/1 at the end of the 10th over, with Saim on the verge of a half-century and Babar hitting 29 off 16 balls with three fours and a six.
Sime crossed the 50-run mark in style when he first hit a four and then a six off Nakabayumzi Peter.
The momentum of Babar Saim’s partnership was broken in the very next over when the former captain fell to George Linde after a 20-ball 31, taking Pakistan to 112/2.
After Babar’s dismissal, the Proteas bowlers found themselves back in the game as Dian Gilliam sent Usman Khan back to the pavilion in the next over (13th over).
Things got worse for Pakistan as Tayyab Tahir was also dismissed on the first ball of the 15th over – bowled by Gillim after hitting a six.
However, Sime didn’t back down from the pressure and continued to target the South African bowlers all over the park.
Saim was then involved in another key partnership for Pakistan when he added 73 runs for the fifth wicket with middle-order batsman Mohammad Irfan Khan, who played a cameo of 30 off just 16 balls.
Irfan’s dismissal in the last over paved the way for Abbas Afridi, who added valuable runs off 11 four balls at the death, while Saeem remained unbeaten on 98 runs.
Pakistan ended the innings by scoring 206 runs for the loss of five wickets in 20 overs. On behalf of Pakistan, Saeem Ayub scored a top score of 98 off 57 balls which included 11 fours and five sixes.
For South Africa, Dian Gilliam and Bartman took two wickets each while Linde took one wicket.
Earlier, Pakistan won the toss and invited South Africa to bowl first.
Playing XI
Pakistan: Muhammad Rizwan (captain and wicketkeeper), Babar Azam, Saeem Ayub, Usman Khan, Tayyab Tahir, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Muhammad Abbas Afridi, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Jahandad Khan, Haris Rauf and Abrar Ahmed.
South Africa: Reese Hendricks, Ryan Rickelton Rassie van der Dusen, David Miller, Henrik Klaasen (captain and wicketkeeper), Donovan Ferreira, George Linde, Diane Gilliam, Otnel Bartman, Naqba Peter and Koena Mafaka.
This is a developing story and will be updated with more details.