South Africa 183 for 9 (Miller 82, Linde 48, Shaheen 3-22, Abrar 3-37) won Pakistan 172 for 8 (Rizwan 74, Ayub 31, Linde 4-21) by 11 runs
After three years without playing for South Africa, George Linde made up for lost time on an electric night at Kingsmead with an impressive all-round performance. A 24-ball 48 with the bat and 4-21 with the ball battered a brave Pakistan, who went down by 11 runs. The referee even thought he had a hat-trick in the penultimate final before a review denied him that glory, but not his undisputed Man of the Match award. Mohammad Rizwan, who faced the first ball, was there in the final over as his team struggled, a late attack from the captain not enough to undo the damage of a slow first half of an innings in which he managed just 36 in his first 44 deliveries. , even if he finished with 74 of 62.
South Africa went into the first T20I in Durban with a decidedly second-string team, but it doesn’t matter when David Miller is in the form he found today. A majestic 40-ball 82 sliced through the first innings like a dagger for Pakistan, who believed they had made early progress when Shaheen Shah Afridi and Abrar Ahmed removed Rassie van der Dussen, Reeza Hendricks and Matthew Breetzke early. But Miller made sure the runs kept flowing, and Pakistan’s spinners were unable to make the impact they had hoped for on a true, flat Durban pitch. Heinrich Klaasen did not hesitate to choose to bat first.
Saim Ayub gave Pakistan a good start despite the loss of Babar Azam for a duck early on, but South Africa stopped them midway through the game. Rizwan struggled to get going and Pakistan’s inexperienced middle-order was unable to keep the rate of change requested from the other end in check. It allowed South Africa to get tidy overs in the middle while picking up regular wickets and suddenly Pakistan were running out of batsmen and overs.
An errant 17th over from 18-year-old Kwena Maphaka, otherwise impressive, allowed Pakistan 24 runs, and they suddenly found themselves back in the game. By then Rizwan was flying, smashing two sixes off Maphaka and three fours off Ottneil Baartman, and Pakistan had suddenly crawled back, needing 19 off the final over. But Maphaka, returning for the 20th over, had Rizwan edge a slower ball and the game ended as a contest. Pakistan had paid for his generosity with the ball at the death and his tardiness with the bat at the start. South Africa were clinical enough to make the most of it.
The Miller Killer Show
David Miller has earned a reputation for being a forceful midfielder and finisher. But after Shaheen and Abrar scored early, Miller came in at No. 4 on an inexperienced team. And for the next hour, he demonstrated how his timing and technique matched his power. Taking advantage of the start of his innings in the powerplay, he took Shaheen off the pads to get going, before hitting him through the covers for another boundary.
The quality of his timing was on full display against Sufiyan Muqeem right after the power play. The left-arm wrist spinner tried to stay out of his arc by bowling away and spinning, but the extension of Miller’s arms and the strength at the end of his reach squandered that tactic. He beat it over the extra cover boundary, where the fielder could only see it go over his head. Muqeem tried again two balls later, only to receive the same treatment with, if possible, even less effort.
Miller had just started and was brutal against spin, slapping Abrar for three sixes in a row in the 10th over. He scythed through the innings for Pakistan; between the time it came in and when Shaheen finally holed it out, he added 82 to South Africa’s 125.
Linde punishes Rizwan’s bet
Tactics are invariably judged by results rather than thought processes, and Linde ensured that Rizwan’s aggressive kill tactic cost Pakistan dearly. After Miller fell and Pakistan followed up with two more quick knocks to reduce South Africa to 141 for 8, the Pakistan captain saw his chance to bowl South Africa out. Shaheen, Abbas Afridi and Haris Rauf were removed for 19; Pakistan perhaps hoped South Africa’s innings would be over by then.
But that didn’t happen, Linde handled the attack and Maphaka’s strange boundary took the pressure off them. He left Muqeem to bowl the final over, and when Linde rejected a first-ball single, his intentions were obvious. Muqeem failed in almost all of the last five deliveries; three went to six before Linde finally missed the last ball into the corner. But South Africa had risen to 183, and Pakistan’s hopes of clearing them below average were dead and buried.
Rizbar now, Rizbar forever?
Mohammad Rizwan-Babar Azam’s opening obituary has been written too many times to attempt another one. It looked like Pakistan’s opening days with their two reliable anchors were finally over, but in a steep chase, it was those two who departed as Saim Ayub sat on the bench. Both seemed rusty and out of rhythm. Babar could have fallen to Maphaka’s first ball and finally did so in the fourth without scoring.
Ayub came in and showed why he is so potent in the first six, displaying his full repertoire of power, panache and audacity as he powered through the remaining powerplay, hitting seven boundaries in his first 13 balls to race to 31. He is less effective when the field extends, and he holed out to cover the second ball he faced after the power play. However, he had got Pakistan going and left one wondering how much he could have added had he been there from the start. As he died, it became clear that every race would have been important.
Danyal Rasool is Pakistan correspondent for Pak Gazette. @danny61000
