Pakistan survived some anxious moments before beating South Africa by three wickets in the first ODI at SuperSport Park, Centurion on Friday. Skipper Babar Azam played a captain's knock. After winning the toss, Pakistan rocked the Proteas thanks to brilliant pace bowling from Shaheen Afridi and Mohammad Hasnain. The hosts, playing their first international match under new captain Temba Vabuma, were struggling at 55/4 in 14.2 overs, but Rassie van der Dussen and David Miller (50 off 56) put up a 100-run stand to steady the ship. Van der Dussen completed his maiden ODI ton (123 not out off 134) to guide his team to a fighting total of 273/6. But as it turned out, it was not enough even as Pakistan lost opener Fakhar Zaman (8 off 12) early in the chase. Azam (103 off 104) and Imam-ul-Haq (70 off 80) stitched a 177-run stand for the second wicket to deflate the Proteas attack. Anrich Nortje, however, took four wickets to give his side a window of opportunity. Then, a 53-run stand in 58 balls by Mohammad Rizwan (40) and Shadab Khan (33 off 30) seemed to have ended South Africa's hopes, but some tidy spells towards the end made the clash an edge of the seat affair. Shadab Khan even survived a clean bowl with the review returning with a free hit for height as Lungi Ngidi reloaded the ball with the equation reading 10 off 8 balls. It became six off seven balls as Shadab dispatched the freebie for a four. It was followed by a three as Quinton de Kock failed to hold on to a deflection. Needing three in the last over, Shadab threw his wicket away, going for the glory but ending with a skier to give Andile Phehlukwayo a wicket off the first ball. It became three off three as Faheem Ashraf coped one from Phehlukwayo. A dot, then a double to level the scores. One off one. Everyone closed in as Faheem Ashraf took the strike. Then Pakistan won, somehow... The second match is scheduled at The Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg on Sunday. Catch highlights and cricket scores of the first ODI match between South Africa and Pakistan:
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13:15 PM IST: Pakistan have won the toss and have elected to bowl first.
Teams:
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Aiden Markram, Temba Bavuma (c), Rassie van der Dussen, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Ankdile Phehlukwayo, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi, Tabraiz Shamsi.
Pakistan: Imam-ul-Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Danish Aziz, Asif Ali, Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Hasnain, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf
