In-form Mohammad Rizwan on Thursday hit a maiden T20 international century as Pakistan edged South Africa by three runs in a thrilling last-over finish to the series opener in Lahore.
Needing 19 to win off the final over, Bjorn Fortuin (17 not out) and Dwaine Pretorius (15 not out) managed 15 as paceman Faheem Ashraf held his nerve to keep South Africa down to 166-6 in 20 overs.
Rizwan’s 64-ball 104 not out featured six fours and seven sixes — the most maximums by a Pakistan batsman in a T20 international — to lift the hosts to 169-6.
Photo: AFP
He also ran out the tourists’ top-scorer Reeza Hendricks (54) in the 18th over.
Hendricks and Janneman Malan (44) had given the visitors a solid 53-run start by the seventh over, before leg-spinner Usman Qadir took two wickets in successive overs to derail South Africa.
South Africa’s most experienced batsman David Miller (6) and skipper Heinrich Klaasen (12) also failed to lift the tempo.
Hendricks’ fifth T20 international half-century included eight fours and came off 42 balls, while Malan hit eight fours and a six off just 29 balls.
For Pakistan, Qadir took 2-21 and fast bowler Haris Rauf finished with 2-44.
Rizwan carried his bat through Pakistan’s innings.
Rizwan, who scored his maiden Test century in Pakistan’s second Test win in Rawalpindi earlier this week, added 68 for the second wicket with Haider Ali, who made 21.
It lifted Pakistan — sent in to bat — from a disastrous start that saw skipper and star batsman Babar Azam run out off the second ball for a duck.
Azam hit a drive off spinner Fortuin and ran for a single, but the bowler threw down the stumps at the non-striker’s end with a direct hit.
“There was pressure as our best batsman had got run out so early,” said Rizwan, who scored 89 in Pakistan’s previous T20, in New Zealand in December last year.
“I kept one end and since it was an important match I had to deliver, and I am so happy that I scored a hundred,” he said.
Rizwan held the innings together, changing gears in the 11th over when he hit three sixes off paceman Junior Dala to reach his half-century.
On his way to a century he was dropped twice, on 83 and 96, but he smashed medium paceman Andile Phehlukwayo over the deep-midwicket boundary for his seventh six to bring up the milestone.
Rizwan is only the second Pakistan batsmen to score a T20 international century after Ahmed Shehzad, who achieved the feat in Dhaka against Bangladesh in the T20 World Cup seven years ago.
Skipper Klaasen said that South Africa were disappointed to come up just shy.
“It was a very good game, but we are disappointed with the result. Hopefully, we fight hard and come back in the next game,” Klaasen said.
Phehlukwayo was the best South Africa bowler with 2-33.
The remaining two matches are to be played today and tomorrow, also in Lahore, as the teams continue their preparations for the T20 World Cup later this year in India.
FRUSTRATION: Alcaraz made several unforced errors over four sets against Bosnian Damir Dzumhur, who had never made it past the third round in a major competition Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz reached the fourth round of the French Open after laboring past Damir Dzumhur 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 in the Friday night session. The second-seeded Spaniard had never before played Dzumhur, a 33-year-old Bosnian who had never been past the third round at any major tournament. “I suffered quite a lot today,” Alcaraz said. “The first two sets was under control, then he started to play more deeply and more aggressively. It was really difficult for me.” Dzumhur hurt his left knee in a fall in the second round, and had treatment on Friday on his right leg during the
‘DREAM’: The 5-0 victory was PSG’s first Champions League title, and the biggest final win by any team in the 70-year history of the top-flight European competition Paris Saint-Germain won the Champions League for the first time as Luis Enrique’s brilliant young side outclassed Inter on Saturday in the most one-sided final ever with teenager Desire Doue scoring twice in an astonishing 5-0 victory. Doue supplied the pass for Achraf Hakimi to give PSG an early lead and the 19-year-old went from provider to finisher as his deflected shot doubled the advantage in the 20th minute. Doue scored again just after the hour mark, ending any doubt about the outcome before Khvicha Kvaratskhelia ran away to get the fourth and substitute Senny Mayulu, another teenager, made it five. Inter were
The Greek basketball league finals between Panathinaikos and Olympiakos were suspended by the government on Monday following on-court scuffles involving rival security teams. The best-of-five series is at 1-1. The third game, scheduled for today, has been postponed. The owners of both clubs were summoned to meet with the country’s sports minister. They “will be asked to provide explicit guarantees that this situation will be brought to an end. If not, this year’s championship will be definitively canceled,” government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said. “There can be no tolerance for such pathological phenomena of violence and delinquency.” In online posts, the owners of Panathinaikos and
The Edmonton Oilers on Thursday defeated the Dallas Stars 6-3 to book their place in the Stanley Cup Finals, setting up a repeat of last year’s NHL showpiece against reigning champions the Florida Panthers. The Oilers, bidding to become the first Canadian team to win the NHL’s championship series since the 1993 Montreal Canadiens, head to Florida for Game 1 of the best-of-seven series set for Wednesday. Florida, who are to play in the NHL showpiece for the third straight season, won last year’s title 4-3 to extend Canada’s decades-long Stanley Cup drought. Connor McDavid led Edmonton back to the championship series on
RSS