PAK vs SA | Pakistan mark Faisalabad's first int'l since 2008 with thrilling chase in opening ODI

Yesterday at 11:30 PM

Pakistan celebrated the return of international cricket to Faisalabad after 17 years with a thrilling win over South Africa, chasing 264 with two balls to spare. Naseem Shah and Abrar Ahmed scalped three each before contributions throughout the batting order helped seal the win by six wickets.

Salman Agha proved to be the anchor in chief for Pakistan's chase of 264 against South Africa in the first ODI in Faisalabad

‌Asked to bat first, South Africa fielded a fresh left-handed wicket-keeping opening pair at Iqbal stadium as debutant Lhuan-dre Pretorius was joined by Quinton de Kock, playing his first ODI in two years. The duo got off to a busy start, with the youngster carressing Naseem Shah for two fours in his opening over and repeated his antics in the sixth over. Spinners Salman Agha Ali and Abrar Ahmed were met with equal brutality as the tourists ended the powerplay with a resounding score of 62/0. Pretorius brought up a 47-ball half-century soon after as the partnership ticked close to a hundred. It took the golden arm of Saim Ayub to break the flourishing stand as he got rid of the rookie courtesy a diving Mohammad Nawaz take, bringing Tony de Zorzi to the crease. The duo only added to the momentum as de Kock brought up a run-a-ball half-century with the score 125/1 after 20. Ayub and Naseem thereafter combined to pull in the reins by conceding just three runs in two overs, and the duo capitalized with the wickets of de Zorzi and de Kock respectively in the space of seven deliveries. Stand-in skipper Matthew Breetzke and another debutant Sinethemba Qeshile got busy thereafter with a 44-run stand and looked poised to build something big after the former fell on a Naseem no-ball, while Qeshile was dropped by Abrar off his own bowling. However, they were restricted to a stand of 44 when Nawaz had the latter caught for 22 off a top-edge, triggering a mini-collapse. The third debutant Donovan Ferreira and George Linde both fell for single digit scores, before Breetzke holed out for 42. Bjorn Fortuin followed suit for a golden duck to become the fifth wicket in a 10-over phase, leaving Abrar on a hattrick who thought he had converted until a review overturned the LBW decision on Lungi Ngidi. Corbin Bosch thus remained the last recognized batter at the crease and took over the onus with authority, slamming six boundaries in his 40-ball 41 while he farmed strike. The all-rounded ultimately succumbed to a searing Afridi yorker in the penultimate over and the Proteas were bowleed out for 263 three balls later.

In response, Ayub mirrored Pretorius with two fours off Lizaad Williams in the pacer's opening effort before Fakhar Zaman meted out the same tretment to Ngidi a couple of overs later. The pair motored along comfortably to 53/0 by the end of the powerplay, which became 86/0 after 15 overs. Like their counterparts, it was part-time spin that did the job for South Africa as Ferreira pinned Ayub plumb in front for 39 and had Fakhar hole out for 45 in successive overs, bringing former captains Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan to the crease. However, the reunion did not last long as the former fell for seven to a Fortuin shooter that kept impossibly low, leaving Pakistan in a spot of bother at 106/3 after 20. Nevertheless, T20I skipper Salman Agha Ali made sure to play the situation as alongwith Rizwan he took minimal calculated risks to move closer to the target, leaving themselves 105 to get off the last 20 overs. The Proteas managed to string together a few relatively quiet overs thereafter, provoking Pakistan to go big twice in the 35th over only for the ball to fall in no man's kand on both occassions. Status quo resumed thereafter and the duo seemed poised to take Pakistan through to the end with a 91-run stand when Rizwan caved in against the mounting dots and holed out for 55, with 68 still to get in 70 balls. New man in Hussain Talat picked up exactly where Rizwan had left off as Pakistan made sure to keep the required rate under six, with the duo appearing in no hurry to finish proceedings as Salman brought up a 56-ball half-century. Their 45-run stand featured just two fours and maximum until Talat tried to break free in the 46th over and ended up chipping to mid-off. Hassan Nawaz's stumping six balls later injected further jeopardy into proceedings with 20 required in 19 balls, and once Salman fell off the last ball of the 48th over the game was anyone's for the taking. The equation had boiled down to 10 off seven when Mohammad Nawaz allayed nerves with a six down the ground but became the eighth scalp with just a run needed and three balls to go. However, Naseem kept his calm to score the winning run and register the highest chase in an ODI in Faisalabad.

Hahaha! Yeah!

Babar Azam ka mood bht acha tha aj chota sa bacha lag rha tha💚💚💚😭😭😭 happy to see him 💚💚💚😭
— Fareeha (@FareehaPTI56)

He needs to comeback!

I don’t mind what people say about Babar Azam, but personally I feel this is a good time for him to regain his form and position. There’s no competitor like him right now, so he has a good chance to get back his glory and perform in big matches.
— Deepak (@Deesedeepak)

Great player!

Muhammad Rizwan out 55(74)
— Salman Khan (@SalmanKhan76616)

That's the tweet!

Rizz 👍🏻
— Neutral🇵🇰 (@NeutralSpeaks)

He is good at it!

In love with his game, always

fifty and flawless ❤️😩🇵🇰✨

— itx_hifxa007 (@itx_hifxa007)

Good inns.

Good innings on come back in team by Muhammad Rizwan.
— Tamanna e Dil (@ishqsufiyana00)

True that!

Rizwan always answers with the bat.

- A match winning knock by Mohammad Rizwan under pressure, you can do lobby against him but can’t stop him from performing.
— Ahmad Haseeb (@iamAhmadhaseeb)

Nice with ball!