Disciplined South Africa shock Pakistan with six-wicket win in second T20I

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A disciplined South African side came out in the second Twenty20 International (T20I) against Pakistan with definitive plans, which left the hosts shocked, on the way to a comfortable six-wicket victory.

Fast-bowler Dwaine Pretorius’s five-wicket haul ensured that the visitors brought the three-match T20I series level at one apiece.

After a sublime collective bowling effort from the bowlers to restrict the Pakistan side to 144 runs, South Africa lost opener Janneman Malan (four off two) and batsman JJ Smuts (seven off eight) early as pacer Shaheen Shah charged with intensity. The fast-bowler bowled Malan while forcing Smuts into a shot that was caught by fielder Babar Azam.

The Proteas batsmen Reeza Hendricks and Pite van Biljon however did not back down, stringing together a partnership of 77 runs off 54 deliveries which broke the back of the chase and the spirit of the Men in Green’s bowlers.

Leg-spinner Usman Qadir finally got the better of Hendricks as the batsman departed, caught by fidlder Iftikhar Ahmed, after scoring 42 runs off 30 deliveries.

Biljon soon followed, caught and bowled by left-arm spinner Mohammad Nawaz, after scoring 42 runs off 32 deliveries.

Batsmen David Miller (25 runs off 19 deliveries) and Heinrich Klaasen ( 17 off nine deliveries) then saw their side through with six wickets to spare as Pakistan were left to rue their batting effort that could not manage a substantial total.

Shaheen Shah was the most successful bowler for the Men in Green, picking up two wickets in three overs at the expense of 18 runs.

Earlier, South Africa’s captain Heinrich Klaasen won the toss and elected to field first. The decision paid dividends early as Pakistan’s skipper Babar Azam (five runs off four deliveries) was removed early once more, LBW off the bowling of pacer Dwaine Pretorius. The captain reviewed in vain as the ball was smacking straight into the stumps with all three reds and he had to depart.

Batsman Haider Ali fell next after timing the ball to perfection straight into the hands of fielder Lutho Sipamla off the bowling off Andile Phehlukwayo, after scoring just 10 runs off 11 deliveries.

Batsman Hussain Talat (three runs off seven deliveries) and Iftikhar Ahmed (20 runs off 21 deliveries) were removed by Tabraiz Shamsi and Pretorius respectively as Pakistan looked towards opener Mohammad Rizwan to dig them out of trouble once more.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Rizwan, who is in splendid form, was standing tall at one end despite the fall of regular wickets from the other. The scoring-rate however added pressure to the batsman who was forced to try a big shot, one of which landed in the hands of fielder Andile Phehlukwayo off the bowling of Pretorius. Rizwan had scored 51 runs off 41 deliveries with the help of 6 fours and 1 six before getting out in search of quick runs.

Pretorius then got rid of batsman Khushdil Shah (caught-behind) and all-rounder Mohammad Nawaz (bowled) as Pakistan struggled to push for a big score towards the end of their innings.

All-rounder Faheem Ashraf however intervened with a timely and unbeaten cameo of 30 runs off 12 deliveries to push the Men in Green to 144 runs, a score which proved to be insufficient in the end.

Pretorius was the star for South Africa picking up five wickets in his four overs at the expense of 17 runs while Tabraiz Shamsi’s economical spell, which yielded just 16 runs off four overs with one wicket, helped dismantle the Pakistan side for a low total.

Pretorius was named the man of the match for his splendid display of bowling.