In the last match of Pakistan’s tour of South Africa 2024-25, the host beats the Men in green by 10 wickets clinching a 2-0 series win.
After a narrow win the the low-scoring match, South Africa managed to grab the top sop in World Test Championship confirming a spot in the final as well. In the last test, South Africa decided to bat first after winning the toss. Captain Temba Bavuma scored 106 (179) in a long partnership with Ryan Rickelton who scored 259 off 343 balls. Some quick innings from Kyle Verreynne 100 (147), Marco Jensen 62 (54), and Keshav Maharaj 40 (35) helped the team post a total 615 in the first innings.
Pakistani youngster Saim Ayub fell for Ankle Injury during fielding in the first innings. He was later shifted to London for rehab on the orders of PCB. He is expected to take 5-6 weeks for recovery. His participation in the upcoming Champions Trophy is still unclear. Pakistan will now have to go with 10 players in the ongoing test match, giving another heart break to the visitors.
Pakistan in the response of a huge total collapsed and lost 3 wickets for just 20 runs in the very first session. No batter other than Babar Azam 58 (127) and Muhammad Rizwan 46 (82) could stay on the pitch. Pakistan was bowled out for just 194 runs while still trailing by 421 runs.
African captain Temba Bavuma decided to Follow On, forcing Pakistan to bat again, finish the trial of 421 runs, and give a target to the host. Things were clear at the time. South Africa had enough time to either bowl out Pakistan below 421 runs and win the match by a margin of innings or bowl out Pakistan with such a low target to be chased within the available time eliminating all the possibilities for a draw.
Pakistan began the second innings with a confidence. Such a quick start from star batsman Babar Azam and captain Shan Masood in the format was unexpected. Shan Masood stuck a century while Babar fell short by a few runs. Pakistan had a partnership of 200+ runs between openers. Pakistan later went on the finish the trail and lead the match by 57 runs.
South Africa chased down the target of 58 runs by 10 wickets and whitewashed the series. Double century scorer Ryan Rickelton was Player of the Match with 259 runs. Fast Bowler Marco Jensen was Man of the Series having 10 wickets at the average of 23.20 and 80 runs with the bat as well.
Star Performers from Pakistan included Babar Azam who scored 193 runs in four innings which included 3 half centuries. He was also the second highest scorer of the series. He was lead by fellow captain Shan Masood who scored 192 runs including a century with 145 runs. Pakistani bowler Muhammad Abbas took 10 wickets at an average of 24.60.
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