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By Muhammad Naeem Khan Niazi
FAISALABAD, Nov 06 (APP):An unbeaten century by wicket-keeper batter Quinton de Kock 123 (119) and excellent opening spell by Nandre Burger helped South Africa beat Pakistan by eight wickets at the Iqbal stadium, Faisalabad and level the three-match series 1-1.
If Burger had broken the back of Pakistan batting line-up with an opening burst claiming three prized wickets of Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan in his first 2.5 overs which helped restrict Pakistan to 269-9, Quinton de Kock, in his come-back series after a few years, hit 22nd century of his ODI career to lead his team beyond the line by the highest margin on Pakistani soil as they reached 270-2 with 59 balls to spare.
de Kock and Tony de Zorzi built a match-defining quick-fire second wicket partnership of 153 runs off 135 balls as they thrashed Pakistan bowlers to all parts of the park with freedom and disdain. de Kock, who was circumspect in the earlier part of the chase, was the architect of clinical chase by the Proteas and hit eight boundaries and seven 6s in his commanding knock. de Zorzi was more aggressive of the two as scored 76 (63) with nine boundaries and three 6s. The second wicket fell at 234-2 but Matthew Breetzke made it sure that the team reached home with ease. He was unbeaten on 17 (21).
Lhuan-dre Pretorius and de Kock had provided an excellent start of 81 runs for the first wicket in the chase as Pretorius scored an aggressive knock of 46 (40) runs which included seven boundaries and a six.
Pakistan bowling was unimpressive as the bowlers were erratic despite the fact Shaheen Shah Afridi used eight bowlers including the five all-rounders in Salman Agha, Faheem Ashraf, Hussain Talat, Muhammad Nawaz and Saim Ayub. Muhammad Wasim Jr. and Faheem Ashraf, the two changes Pakistan made to the squad replacing Abrar Ahmed and Hasan Nawaz, were the only wicket-takers and shared one wicket each for 48 and 40 runs respectively. Shaheen, Naseem, Nawaz, Saim, Salman Agha and Hussain remained wicketless.
Shaheen Shah Afridi, in the post-match talk, attributed the defeat to poor fielding as they dropped too many catches but promised to come back strong in the last match of the series.
Earlier, Captain Shaheen Shah Afridi’s decision to bat first after winning the toss backfired as Pakistan batters could not deal with the swing, bounce and pace in the early part of the innings and lost three wickets for 22 runs by the close of fifth over in the power-play. Whether it was tactical mistake or intentional decision to bat first on a new unpredictable track at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad where cricket had returned after a gap of 17 years, all top three batters perished early including Fakhar Zaman 0 (3), Babar Azam 11 (13) and 4 (4). All was left to the army of all-rounders to make repairs to the holes in the sinking ship as Pakistan played five all-rounders in Saim Ayub, Salman Agha, Hussain Talat, Muhammad Nawaz and Faheem Ashraf.
Pakistan had made some recovery as Saim Ayub and Salman Agha built a partnership of 92 runs off 98 balls but with the fall of Saim in the 25th over brought Pakistan further on the backfoot. By the middle of the innings, the demons, if any, in the pitch had calmed down but Pakistan did not take on the South African bowlers. Salman Agha 69 (109), though he was the highest run-scorer for the second consecutive match for Pakistan, consumed almost 18 overs to score 69 runs.
Muhammad Nawaz 59 (59) played an aggressive knock which included three boundaries and four 6s helped Pakistan post somewhat a respectable total on the board. A cameo by Faheem Ashraf 28 (18) helped Pakistan reach 269.
Though the batters were instrumental in saving the batting line-up from blushes as Saim, Salman and Nawaz hit half-centuries but they failed miserably in making an impression with the ball.
However, Nandre Burger shone with the ball as he claimed career best four wickets for 46 runs off 10 overs. Leg-spinner Nqabayomzi Peter also claimed career best figures of 3-55 off his eight overs. Corbin Bosch bagged two important wickets of Saim Ayub and Salman Agha for 58 runs off 10 overs. Bjoen Fortuin, George Linde and Donovan Ferreira were wicketless.
Matthew Breetzke had attributed the victory excellent performance with the bat and the ball and hailed Burger, de Kock de Zorzi and Pretorius.