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SA vs PAK 1st ODI Highlights: Saim Ayub Ton, Agha’s Rescue Act Lead Pakistan Win After Klaasen’s 86

Aakash Saini

Saim Ayub, Salman Agha in action in the third ODI [Source: @TheRealPCB/x]Saim Ayub, Salman Agha in action in the third ODI [Source: @TheRealPCB/x]

Pakistan secured a nervy three-wicket win over South Africa in the first ODI match at Paarl’s Boland Park on December 17. Saim Ayub cracked a gutsy century in a tight run-chase as the ‘Men in Green’ went 1-0 up in the three-match series.

Here’s the timeline of how SA vs PAK panned out in Paarl:

SA vs PAK Highlights: Agha Salman Blows Away South African Top-Order

South African openers Tony de Zorzi (33 off 25) and Ryan Rickelton (36 off 38) initially justified captain Aiden Markram’s call of batting first by forging 70 runs together within the first 10 overs of the match. Employed by Mohammad Rizwan as Pakistan’s first bowling change after pacemen Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah went wicketless in their opening spells, off-spinner Agha Salman subsequently wrecked the South African top-order with four quick wickets.

Salman (4-32) dismissed both Proteas openers, and cleaned up Rassie van der Dussen and Tristan Stubbs as the hosts crashed from 70-0 to 88-4 in less than four overs.

SA vs PAK Highlights: Heinrich Klaasen Incentivizes SA With Fighting 86

Heinrich Klaasen at number six led South Africa’s fighting recovery with a courageous 86 from 97 balls. The lanky middle-order batter shared gutsy fifty-plus stands with captain Aiden Markram (35 off 54) and Marco Jansen (10 off 27) until the latter two were dismissed by Saim Ayub and Abrar Ahmed (2-32) respectively.

Ahmed also accounted for the wicket of Andile Phehlukwayo, while Shaheen Afridi (1-46) deprived Klaasen of a well-deserved century as South Africa conjured 239-9 from their 50 overs.

SA vs PAK Highlights: Baartman Topples Babar Azam, Rizwan Early In Chase

Marco Jansen knocked over Pakistan opener Abdullah Shafique for a four-ball duck in just the second over of the run-chase. Babar Azam at number three attained some momentum for his team before the legendary Pakistani batter threw away his wicket to Ottneil Baartman upon reaching a confident 23 from 38 balls.

Baartman also demolished Mohammad Rizwan’s stumps with a nip-backer, while Kamran Ghulam was involved in a comical runout with non-striker Saim Ayub as Pakistan slipped to 60-4 in less than 20 overs.

SA vs PAK Highlights: Agha Salman Anchors Pakistan Win After Saim Ayub Ton

Facing an uphill task, dejected Pakistan opener Saim Ayub shrugged off his runout demons with Kamran Ghulam to cautiously navigate his team past the 200-run mark without further casualty. The sparkling young talent notched up his second ODI century, scoring 109 runs in all from 119 balls before getting bested by Kagiso Rabada.

Ayub shared 141 runs with half-centurion Agha Salman (82* off 90), who navigated Pakistan to a thrilling three-wicket victory in the last over despite constantly losing partners at the other end to Rabada (2-48) and Tabraiz Shamsi (1-54).