South Africa beat Pakistan by 7 wickets in 2nd T20I

South Africa won by 7 wickets (with 3 balls remaining) in the second T20I against Pakistan in Centurion on Friday.

Chasing the 207-run target set by Pakistan, South Africa scored the required number or runs in 19.3 overs.

Earlier, Pakistan handed a target of 207 runs to South Africa, Saim Ayoub’s 98* helped the guest set a huge target for the protease in the second match in Centurion.  

Pakistan scored 206 for the loss of five wickets in 20 overs. Pakistan captain Mohammad Rizwan opted to bat first, however, he fell in the fourth over with only 16 runs on the board.

Saim Ayub was joined by Babar Azam and together they added 87 runs for the second wicket from 45 balls before last match’s hero George Linde struck again. Babar, who struck three fours and one six on his way to 31, fell prey to Linde.

Meanwhile, debutant Dayyaan Galiem dismissed Usman Khan (3) and Tayyab Tahir (6) in consecutive overs to leave Pakistan reeling at 122-4.
Irfan Khan (30) then joined Saim and they helped Pakistan recover from the mini-collapse as they smashed 73 runs from 32 balls before the former fell in the final over.

Saim missed his much-deserved century as new batter Abbas Afridi played the remaining four balls, hitting 11 runs with one six and one four to take Pakistan’s total to 206-5.

The left-handed opening batter remained unbeaten on 98. Saim smashed five sixes and 11 fours on his way to the top score for Pakistan with a quickfire off just 57 deliveries.

 For South Africa, Galiem and Ottneil Baartman took two wickets each, while Linde bagged one.

It’s worth noting that the three-match series will culminate with the final T20I in Johannesburg tomorrow. After wrapping up the T20I series, Pakistan and South Africa will play a three-match ODI series.