(ESPN Cricinfo) – Pakistan turned in their best all-round ODI performance across all three series over the past six weeks, dismantling South Africa by 81 runs and sealing a third straight ODI series win.
Shaheen Afridi sizzled with the ball after half-centuries from Mohammad Rizwan, Babar Azam, and Kamran Ghulam helped Pakistan amass 329 in the second ODI in Cape Town.
South Africa never quite got partnerships going despite a heroic 74-ball 97 from Heinrich Klaasen. Afridi, however, got his mojo back, menacing at the top and lethal with the reverse-swinging ball at the death, finishing with four wickets as South Africa was bowled out for 248.
South Africa began the chase in much the same way as they started off in the first innings in Paarl – with conviction and purpose. From the moment the returning Temba Bavuma flicked Afridi off his pads for four off the first ball, South Africa was up and running, routinely piercing the thickset infield to find the boundaries they needed to keep the asking rate in check.
When Naseem Shah drew a leading edge from the South Africa captain to draw first blood, Tony de Zorzi and Rassie van der Dussen carried on at the same brisk tempo, and South Africa had much the better of the opening powerplay.
However, the hosts were beset by the clumps of wickets Pakistan has found a knack of taking to stymie opposition momentum. De Zorzi, van der Dussen, and Aiden Markram all fell within 39 runs of each other, immediately placing all the pressure on Klaasen to pull off another Houdini act. Alongside David Miller, he appeared to have set South Africa back on course with a partnership that combined security with aggression, the run-a-ball 72 they added bringing the hosts right back into the contest.
But Afridi picked his moment to deliver perhaps his most impressive spell since picking up the injury two years ago that has somewhat stalled his career. With the lights taking full effect and the contest balanced on a tightrope, he found it in himself to bowl closer to the 140kph mark, angling his wrist position to take advantage of the reverse swing that suddenly appeared to be on offer. He fizzed one past Miller, cutting him in half – or so we all thought; Afridi was sure it had kissed the inside edge, and when they went upstairs, the technology bore him out.
But it was the dismissal of Marco Jansen that had the greatest technical purity to it. Coming around the wicket, it angled into middle stump before appearing to deviate away, with Jansen’s bat nowhere near it as it crashed into the base of middle and off. He was finding late swing at such pace even the umpire struggled to pick it up, and it required another review to establish Andile Phehlukwayo had been struck on the toe before the ball hit his bat and that he was indeed plumb in front.
All this while, Klaasen had been fighting a lone, and, as became increasingly obvious, losing battle. He was particularly ruthless taking down last game’s hero, Salman Agha, stepping onto the back foot for his trademark hook over cow corner and using his range efficiently to carve the ball into the off side. If anything, he was guilty of not shielding the strike better as he approached his own hundred and, in the end, ran out of partners when he whacked Naseem to deep midwicket in a doomed attempt at reaching a hundred he richly deserved.
Babar scored his first half-century in 22 innings, combining with his old friend Rizwan in a 115-run third-wicket partnership as Pakistan set South Africa an imposing 330 to chase. That number never looked as steep when those two were batting, though, and only ballooned thanks to a blistering late flurry from Ghulam, who bludgeoned 63 off 32 balls. They were helped by South Africa falling away sharply with their lines as well as in the fielding.
Bavuma had opted to field first on a picture-perfect day at Newlands, and South Africa made a similarly dreamy start when Marco Jansen knocked over Abdullah Shafique for a second successive duck. But South Africa only truly perked up when Saim Ayub was removed at the tail-end of the powerplay, slashing at a wide one off debutant Kwena Maphaka and finding van der Dussen well placed at deep third.
Pakistan’s level of urgency tailed away immediately, with Babar and Rizwan opting for the more classical pacing that comes so naturally to them. Both were trying to work their way back into the runs, and with South Africa happy to strangle the scoring than go after the wickets, it appeared for a while that the game entered a passage of play where each side was getting what they wanted.
There were still moments of belligerence, such as when Rizwan smeared Markram over cow corner for six, and Babar milked the spinners for the occasional boundary. But the asking rate steadily hovered between 4.75 and 5.1, and it was evident Pakistan was back-loading the innings.
Babar had gone past 50 and seemed to be edging towards that elusive hundred, but then he slapped Phehlukwayo straight to Markram at short midwicket, who just about held on after it thudded into his chest. Maphaka got rid of Rizwan with a splendid diving return catch, and South Africa suddenly had the momentum.
But Ghulam put paid to any such notions. Alongside Salman, who punished some errant bowling, Ghulam demonstrated his value as a lower-order power hitter, making splendid use of his bottom hand as he smashed five sixes in a whirlwind of a knock. The half-century came up in just 25 deliveries, with both pace and spin taken to task. Irfan Niazi, Shaheen, and Haris Rauf were good value for the odd six from the other end, but until he holed out to Maphaka in the final over, the late charge, which saw Pakistan score 128 in the final 12 overs, was largely down to Ghulam.
That it was possible, though, was because Pakistan had done something that has eluded South Africa all series.
They had paced their way through an ODI innings while keeping wickets in hand. Klaasen may well have been just as adept at playing the Ghulam role at the death, but, as he went down on his knees after Pakistan sealed victory, he simply had no one to play it with.
