KARACHI: A five-wicket haul from Dwaine Pretorius helped South Africa level three-match series 1-1 in the second T20I against host Pakistan in Lahore on Saturday night to take the interest into the third and final T20 game.
Pretorius’s figures of 5/17 in his four overs are the best ever by a South African in T20I cricket and also the best ever against Pakistan in the format.
Pretorius removed the danger man Babar Azam for 5 with just his second delivery, trapping the Pakistan captain lbw. And the home side struggled to get going throughout their innings, with even a half-century from Mohammad Rizwan – picking up from his century in the opening match – not enough to inspire a decent total.
The star man Pretorius came back in the middle overs to remove both Iftikhar Ahmed and Rizwan just as the pair looked set to accelerate, with Pakistan only bringing up their hundred in the 17th over.
A late flurry of runs from Faheem Ashraf, with 30 off just 12 deliveries, took Pakistan up to a total of 144, but not before Pretorius had completed his five-for with the dismissals of Khushdil Shah and Mohammad Nawaz.
Pakistan were one win away from bringing up their 100th win in T20 international matches, but 144/7 was never likely to be enough, even against a South African side who went into this match on the back of five straight defeats in the format.
A stunning opening spell from Shaheen Afridi did give Pakistan a glimmer of hope however, with the left-arm quick bowler removing Janneman Malan with just the second ball of the innings. And Afridi returned with a wicket-maiden in the third over – the 20-year-old’s first-ever maiden in T20I cricket.
But South Africa rallied well after the early departures of Malan and JJ Smuts, and a partnership of 77 between Reeza Hendricks (42) and Pite van Biljon (42) broke the back of the chase, with the Proteas well ahead of the rate when Hendricks fell to Usman Qadir in the 12th over.
And the Proteas strolled to the win with 22 balls to spare as David Miller, with 25 off 19 balls, and skipper Heinrich Klaasen, with 17 off 9, steered South Africa to 145/4 to complete a six-wicket win.
The teams meet again in Lahore on Sunday for the third and final match of the series.