A century by Babar Azam set up a three-wicket, last-ball win for Pakistan in the first one-day international against South Africa at SuperSport Park in Centurion on Friday. The Pakistan captain hit a stroke-filled 103 off 104 balls and shared a second-wicket partnership of 177 with Imam-ul-Haq, who made 70. But Babar’s dismissal started a collapse in which fast bowler Anrich Nortje took four wickets in four overs. From 186 for one, with more than 18 overs in hand to reach a target of 274, Pakistan slumped to 203 for five before Mohammad Rizwan and Shadab Khan steadied the innings again in a sixth-wicket stand of 53. But both were dismissed before Faheem Ashraf hit the winning run off Andile Phehlukwayo off the last ball.
“There was a little bit of pressure but we will learn from that,” Babar said through an interpreter at the after-match presentation.
Babar, who was named man of the match, praised his bowlers, who came within three runs of achieving his objective of restricting South Africa to a total of around 270 after he won the toss and sent them in.
“I told them to bowl hard lengths and there was some swing as well,” he said.
“They took wickets in the power play and that helped us.”
Rassie van der Dussen had to perform a rescue act for South Africa after the hosts struggled to 55 for four inside 15 overs.
He hit 123 not out, his maiden international century, to enable South Africa to score 273 for six.
South African captain Temba Bavuma admitted the loss of early wickets disrupted South Africa’s aggressive intent.
“We didn’t help ourselves with our batting effort in the first ten overs,” he said.
The win gave Pakistan an important advantage in the three-match series, with South Africa set to lose five key players to the Indian Premier League after Sunday’s second match in Johannesburg.
Nortje, one of those who will depart for India, conceded 31 runs in his first spell of five overs but came back strongly, dismissing Babar and Imam in successive overs before having a new cap Danish Aziz caught behind off a vicious, lifting delivery.
When Asif Ali was caught off a top-edged pull, South Africa was right back in the game. Nortje finished with four for 51.
Rizwan, who was a man of the series in both Tests and Twenty20 clashes against South Africa in Pakistan earlier in the year, again showed a calm temperament as he and Shadab took their side close to victory.
But Rizwan and Shadab both perished to over-ambitious shots against the medium-paced Phehlukwayo as the match went down to the last ball.
Van der Dussen and David Miller (50) revived South Africa’s innings earlier with a fourth-wicket stand of 116.
Van der Dussen and Phehlukwayo (29) then added 64 for the sixth wicket.
The 32-year-old Van der Dussen had been dismissed three times in the nineties – twice in one-day internationals and once in a Test match – since making his debut two seasons ago.
He took 80 balls to reach his fifty but lifted the tempo of his innings to finish with ten fours and two sixes off 134 balls
Teams (Playing XI)
Pakistan: Babar Azam(Captain), Imam-ul-Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Rizwan(wk), Asif Ali, Shadab Khan, Danish Aziz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Hasnain, Haris Rauf.
South Africa: Temba Bavuma(Captain), Aiden Markram, Quinton de Kock(w), Rassie van der Dussen, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Andile Phehlukwayo, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi, Tabraiz Shamsi.
South Africa 1st Ing: 273/6
| Batsman | Status | R | B | 4s | 6s |
| Rassie van der Dussen | not out | 123 | 134 | 10 | 2 |
| Kagiso Rabada | not out | 13 | 10 | 2 | 0 |
| Bowling | 0 | M | R | W |
| Shaheen Afridi | 10 | 1 | 61 | 2 |
| Mohammad Hasnain | 10 | 2 | 52 | 1 |
South Africa (SA) Scorecard
| Batsman | R | B | 4s | 6s |
| Aiden Markram (c Faheem Ashraf b Shaheen Afridi) | 19 | 23 | 3 | 1 |
| Quinton de Kock (W) (c Babar Azam b Shaheen Afridi) | 20 | 18 | 3 | 1 |
| Temba Bavuma (C) (c Shaheen Afridi b Mohammad Hasnain) | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Rassie van der Dussen | 123 | 134 | 10 | 2 |
| Heinrich Klaasen (c Mohammad Rizwan b Faheem Ashraf) | 1 | 21 | 0 | 0 |
| David Miller (c Mohammad Rizwan b Haris Rauf) | 50 | 56 | 5 | 0 |
| Andile Phehlukwayo (c Shadab Khan b Haris Rauf) | 29 | 35 | 4 | 0 |
| Kagiso Rabada | 13 | 10 | 2 | 0 |
| Anrich Nortje | ||||
| Lungi Ngidi | ||||
| Tabraiz Shamsi |
Extras: 17 ( b – 0, lb – 2, w – 14, nb – 1, Penalty – 0)
Fall of wickets: 1 – 34 (Quinton de Kock, 6.2 ov) , 2 – 41 (Aiden Markram, 6.4 ov) , 3 – 43 (Temba Bavuma, 7.5 ov) , 4 – 55 (Heinrich Klaasen, 14.2 ov) , 5 – 171 (David Miller, 36 ov) , 6 – 235 (Andile Phehlukwayo, 46.2 ov)
| Bowling | 0 | M | R | W |
| Shaheen Afridi | 10 | 1 | 61 | 2 |
| Mohammad Hasnain | 10 | 2 | 52 | 1 |
| Faheem Ashraf | 9 | 0 | 25 | 1 |
| Haris Rauf | 10 | 0 | 72 | 2 |
| Shadab Khan | 8 | 0 | 45 | 0 |
| Danish Aziz | 3 | 0 | 16 | 0 |
Match Notes 1st Innings
| D Aziz makes his ODI debut for Pakistan |
| Referral 1 (8.0 ovs): H Klaasen against PAK (LBW) Successful (SA: 2, PAK: 2) |
| R Dussen dropped on 0 by A Ali in 8.5 overs |
| Power play 1 (1-10): South Africa 43/3 |
| South Africa 50/3 in 12.0 overs |
| Drinks: South Africa 55/3 in 14.0 overs |
| South Africa 100/4 in 22.5 overs |
| 5th wkt Partnership: 50 off 62 balls between R Dussen (16) and D Miller (31) |
| Drinks: South Africa 137/4 in 29.0 overs |
| South Africa 150/4 in 32.0 overs |
| R Dussen ODI fifty: 53 runs in 80 balls (4×4) (0x6) |
| 5th wkt Partnership: 100 off 109 balls between R Dussen (43) and D Miller (48) |
| D Miller 15th ODI fifty: 50 runs in 52 balls (5×4) (0x6) |
| Power play 2 (11-40): South Africa 191/5 (148 runs, 2 wickets) |
| South Africa 200/5 in 42.2 overs |
| 6th wkt Partnership: 53 off 50 balls between R Dussen (24) and A Phehlukwayo (26) |
| R Dussen maiden ODI hundred: 100 runs in 123 balls (8×4) (1×6) |
| South Africa 254/6 in 48.1 overs |
| Power play 3 (41-50): South Africa 273/6 (82 runs, 1 wickets) |
| Innings Break: South Africa 273/6 in 50.0 overs |
Pakistan 2nd Ing :274/7
| Batsman | Status | R | B | 4s | 6s |
| Faheem Ashraf | not out | 5 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| Shaheen Afridi | not out | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bowling | 0 | M | R | W |
| Kagiso Rabada | 10 | 1 | 51 | 1 |
| Lungi Ngidi | 10 | 1 | 65 | 0 |
Pakistan (PAK) Scorecard
| Batsman | R | B | 4s | 6s |
| Imam-ul-Haq (c Kagiso Rabada b Anrich Nortje) | 70 | 80 | 3 | 1 |
| Fakhar Zaman (b Kagiso Rabada) | 8 | 12 | 1 | 0 |
| Babar Azam (C) (c Quinton de Kock b Anrich Nortje) | 103 | 104 | 17 | 0 |
| Mohammad Rizwan (W) (c Kagiso Rabada b Andile Phehlukwayo) | 40 | 52 | 4 | 0 |
| Danish Aziz (c Quinton de Kock b Anrich Nortje) | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| Asif Ali (c Andile Phehlukwayo b Anrich Nortje) | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| Shadab Khan (c Rassie van der Dussen b Andile Phehlukwayo) | 33 | 30 | 2 | 1 |
| Faheem Ashraf | 5 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| Shaheen Afridi | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mohammad Hasnain | ||||
| Haris Rauf |
Extras: 10 ( b – 0, lb – 0, w – 9, nb – 1, Penalty – 0)
Fall of wickets: 1 – 9 (Fakhar Zaman, 2.4 ov) , 2 – 186 (Babar Azam, 31.5 ov) , 3 – 193 (Imam-ul-Haq, 34 ov) , 4 – 198 (Danish Aziz, 35.5 ov) , 5 – 203 (Asif Ali, 37.4 ov) , 6 – 256 (Mohammad Rizwan, 47.2 ov) , 7 – 271 (Shadab Khan, 49.1 ov)
| Bowling | 0 | M | R | W |
| Kagiso Rabada | 10 | 1 | 51 | 1 |
| Lungi Ngidi | 10 | 1 | 65 | 0 |
| Anrich Nortje | 10 | 0 | 51 | 4 |
| Andile Phehlukwayo | 9.6 | 0 | 56 | 2 |
| Tabraiz Shamsi | 10 | 0 | 51 | 0 |
Match Notes 2nd Innings
| B Azam dropped on 3 by A Markram in 7.5 overs |
| Power play 1 (1-10): Pakistan 37/1 |
| Pakistan 50/1 in 12.1 overs |
| 2nd wkt Partnership: 50 off 65 balls between I Haq (19) and B Azam (30) |
| Drinks: Pakistan 68/1 in 16.0 overs |
| B Azam ODI fifty: 51 runs in 61 balls (8×4) (0x6) |
| Pakistan 101/1 in 21.1 overs |
| 2nd wkt Partnership: 100 off 128 balls between I Haq (40) and B Azam (56) |
| I Haq 8th ODI fifty: 53 runs in 63 balls (2×4) (1×6) |
| Pakistan 150/1 in 27.5 overs |
| 2nd wkt Partnership: 151 off 162 balls between I Haq (63) and B Azam (83) |
| Drinks: Pakistan 181/1 in 31.0 overs |
| B Azam 13th ODI hundred: 103 runs in 103 balls (17×4) (0x6) |
| Referral 1 (34.1 ovs): SA against D Aziz (LBW) Unsuccessful (SA: 1, PAK: 2) |
| Pakistan 200/4 in 36.3 overs |
| Power play 2 (11-40): Pakistan 213/5 (176 runs, 4 wickets) |
| Pakistan 251/5 in 46.1 overs |
| 6th wkt Partnership: 52 off 53 balls between M Rizwan (32) and S Khan (20) |
| S Khan dropped on 24 by R Dussen in 48.4 overs |
