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On Thursday, December 19, Pakistan became the first team in men’s cricket to win three ODI series against South Africa in their own den, going past the likes of Australia and India, who have won it twice thus far. In the second ODI of the three-match series, Pakistan got the better of South Africa by 81 runs at the Newlands in Cape Town, to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series, with the final game set to be played at the Wanderers in Johannesburg.
After winning the first ODI by three wickets with three balls to spare at the Boland Park in Paarl, Pakistan were sent into batting first by South African captain Temba Bavuma in the second game of the series. Marco Jansen dismissed Abdullah Shafique in the first over of the innings, who didn’t trouble the scorers, but from that point onwards, the Pakistan batting team brought their A game to the contest with the bat in hand.
Mohammad Rizwan top scored for Pakistan with 80 off 82 in second ODI vs South Africa
Following a crucial partnership of 48 runs for the second wicket between Saim Ayub and Babar Azam, the former captain set-up the Pakistan innings with a 115-run stand alongside current captain Mohammad Rizwan. Both the senior batters scored their respective fifties, allowing Salman Agha (33 off 30) and Kamran Ghulam, who got 63 runs in just 32 balls with four fours and five maximums, to help Pakistan reach a score 329 runs in 49.5 overs as Kwena Maphaka took four wickets on debut.
In the run chase, all the four batters in the top order of South Africa got starts, but none of them managed to kick-on, which put the hosts in a difficult situation as the overs went by. Captain Heinrich Klaasen kept South Africa in the contest with his 97 off 74 with eight fours and four sixes, but as the late order wickets fell around him consistently, he finally perished himself at the hands of Naseem Shah, which led to his team getting bowled out for 248 runs in 43.1 overs, losing the second ODI by a big margin.
South Africa will be looking to end the ODI series on a high note with a win at the Newlands in Johannesburg on Sunday, December 22, just four days prior to the all-important two-match Test series against Pakistan with a World Test Championship (WTC) 2025 final spot on the line.
