LAHORE: Spinner Abrar Ahmed led Pakistan’s spin charge on Saturday, taking four wickets as South Africa were bundled out for 143 in the third and final ODI of the three-match series at Iqbal Cricket Stadium on Saturday.
Proteas captain Matthew Breetzke’s decision to bat first ultimately backfired as his team could accumulate 143 before being bowled out in 37.5 overs despite experienced opener Quinton de Kock’s anchoring half-century.
The visitors got off to a decent start to their innings as their opening pair of Lhuan-dre Pretorius and de Kock yielded 72 runs before the former fell victim to Salman Ali Agha in the 15th over.
He remained a notable run-getter for South Africa with 39 off 45 deliveries, laced with four fours and a six.
De Kock was then involved in brief partnerships with Tony de Zorzi (two) and skipper Breetzke until eventually being dismissed by Mohammad Nawaz in the 25th over.
He remained the top-scorer for South Africa with 53 off 70 deliveries, comprising six fours and a six.
Following his dismissal, South Africa ran into a match-defining collapse, triggered by Abrar Ahmed, which saw them lose their remaining eight wickets for just 37 runs and were thus bundled out for a meagre total.
Besides the openers, captain Breetzke and Nqabayomzi Peter, 16 each, could amass double figures against a spin-led Pakistan bowling attack.
Abrar was the pick of the bowlers for Pakistan, taking four wickets for just 27 runs in his 10 overs. He was supported by skipper Shaheen Shah Afridi, Agha and Nawaz, who bagged two wickets each.
This is a developing story and is being updated with further details.
Pakistan: Fakhar Zaman, Saim Ayub, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Salman Agha, Hussain Talat, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Shah Afridi (c), Faheem Ashraf, Abrar Ahmed, and Haris Rauf.
South Africa:Quinton de Kock (wk), Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Tony de Zorzi, Rubin Hermann, Matthew Breetzke (c), Donovan Ferreira, Corbin Bosch, Bjorn Fortuin, Nandre Burger, Nqabayomzi Peter, and Lungi Ngidi.