Pakistan defeated South Africa by a margin of 9 wickets in the 3rd T20I to take a 2-1 lead in the 4-match series. After conceding a 200+ total, openers did well with the bat sharing a massive partnership that almost won them the match! None of the bowlers from both the sides had impressive figures in this match. Even the experienced were taken for cleaners in his high-scoring match.
After being sent into bat first, South African openers did well by adding 108 for the first wicket. Both their openers scored half-centuries each – Aiden Markram (63 off 31) and Janneman Malan (55 off 40). Though they lost the wickets during the middle overs, Rassie van der Dussen’s little cameo (34* off 20) helped them get past the 200-run mark. Eventually, they finished with 203/5 in 20 overs. Among Pakistan bowlers, Mohammad Nawaz bagged 2 wickets while Shaheen Afridi, Hasan Ali and Faheem Ashraf accounted for a wicket each.
Chasing a mammoth target, Pakistan openers Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan did not break a sweat. This duo added 197 runs for the first wicket as it was broken with the departure of Babar Azam in the 18th over. Babar scored 122 runs becoming the first Pakistani captain to score a T20I century. Meanwhile, this is also the first century for Babar in this format of the game. The other opener Mohammad Rizwan was unbeaten on 73* as Pakistan chased down the target with 9 wickets in hand and 2 overs to spare in their innings.
Pakistan captain Babar Azam has also been named as the Player of the Match award for his match-winning century. With this 9-wicket victory, Pakistan have taken a 2-1 lead in this 4-match T20I series in South Africa. The fourth and final match of the series will be played at Super Sport Park in Centurion on Friday (Apr 16).
Brief Scores: Pakistan – 205/1 in 18 overs (Babar Azam – 122, Lizaad Williams – 1/34) defeated South Africa – 203/5 in 20 overs (Aiden Markram – 63, Mohammad Nawaz – 2/38) by a margin of 9 wickets
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