Johannesburg: Pakistan defeated South Africa by 4 wickets in the first T20 match after a thrilling match.
In the first T20 match of the series played in Johannesburg, South Africa batted first and scored 188 runs for the loss of 6 wickets in the stipulated 20 overs in reply to which Pakistan achieved the target one ball earlier thanks to a brilliant innings by Mohammad Rizwan. ۔
Captain Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan started the innings for the national team. However, Babar Azam proved to be the guest of 14 runs after which Fakhruzzaman came to bat but he also managed to score only 27 runs. Veteran batsman Mohammad Hafeez could not make his 100th match memorable and returned to the pavilion after playing only 13 runs in the innings.
Haider Ali also got out after scoring 14 runs and Mohammad Nawaz did not even bother to open the account, he returned to the pavilion on the first ball. Despite losing wickets from the other end, Mohammad Rizwan did not give up and completed his half century.
After half the team returned to the pavilion at 132, Pakistan’s return to the match looked difficult, but Mohammad Rizwan and Faheem Ashraf batted aggressively in the last 3 overs. Faheem Ashraf was dismissed for 30 off 14 balls in the last over while Mohammad Rizwan remained unbeaten on 74 off 50 balls with nine fours and two sixes in his innings.
Earlier, South Africa captain Klaassen won the toss and elected to bat first. Man Milan and Eden Markram gave the hosts an aggressive start, but Milan were bowled out for 24, after which Wahan Lobe came to bat but was the only guest for 4 runs.
Markram teamed up with skipper Henrik Klaassen to give the Pakistani bowlers a good run. Markram scored half-centuries off 30 balls and Klaassen hit half-centuries off 24 balls, returning to the pavilion for 51 and 50 runs respectively. Van Bulguin also played aggressively. He was dismissed after scoring 24 runs while George Linde was the guest for 6 runs. Adele Philfquaya and Sasanda Magala remained unbeaten on 9.9.
For the national team, Hassan Ali and Mohammad Nawaz took 2 wickets each while Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf took one wicket each.
Sharjeel Khan was not included in Pakistan’s playing XI. In these places, Fakhrzaman Farm has been made a part of Planting XI. On the other hand, veteran batsman Mohammad Hafeez is playing his 100th T20 match today. The cricket board has also released a video on this occasion.
It should be noted that in the tour, Pakistan defeated South Africa by 28 runs in one-day matches and won the three-match series 2-1.