Babar Azam shines as Pakistan seal South Africa T20 series 2-1

 BY MUHAMMAD ALI

LAHORE: Star batsman Babar Azam hammered a superb 68 off 47 deliveries to help Pakistan down South Africa by four wickets in their third and final Twenty20 International at Gaddafi Stadium here on Saturday night and clinch the limited overs series 2-1. Pakistan elected to bowl first and restricted the visitors to 139 for nine in their 20 overs, before chasing down their victory total with six deliveries to spare. Babar had looked out of touch in the first two games in the series on his return to the Pakistan T20 side for the first time this year, but conjured up a match-winning effort on a tricky surface that was providing assistance to the seamers. He put on 76 for the third wicket with captain Salman Agha (33 from 26 balls) that set up the victory for the home side. “This innings was due,” Babar said at the post-match presentation. “I backed myself and the team believed in me. I was hoping for such a knock. “There is pressure in everything. It is about how you absorb it and I wanted to do what the team needed, play according to the situation. “We wanted to take it deep and build partnerships and it worked for the team.”

The hosts had a contrasting start to the pursuit as their opener Saim Ayub fell for a six-ball duck in the second over with just eight runs on the board. Following the early stutter, Babar joined Sahibzada Farhan for a crucial 36-run partnership, which culminated with the opener’s dismissal on the final delivery of the seventh over. Farhan made an 18-ball 19 with the help of two fours and a six. With the scoreboard reading 44/2 in seven overs, Babar joined forces with Salman to put the home side within touching distance as they racked up 76 runs for the third wicket at a brisk pace. The pair appeared to have settled down and were looking in control to steer Pakistan over the line, but South Africa hit back, with Lizaad Williams and Corbin Bosch dismissing Agha and Babar, respectively, in the span of just five deliveries.

Earlier Several South African batsmen made starts in their innings but wickets fell at regular intervals. Reeza Hendricks top-scored with 34 and Corbin Bosch (30 not out) and captain Donovan Ferreira (29) were the others with modest contributions. Pakistan seamer Shaheen Shah Afridi did early damage with two wickets in the opening over to put the visitors on the back foot and finished with figures of 3-26. The two teams begin a three-match One-Day International series in Faisalabad on Tuesday. “We didn’t perform with the bat once again,” Ferreira said. “The bowlers did well to fight until the end but there were not enough runs on the board.”

Brief scores:

Pakistan 140 for 6 (Babar 68, Agha 33, Bosch 2-24, Williams 2-26) beat South Africa 139 for 9 (Hendricks 34, Shaheen 3-26, Tariq 2-26, Faheem 2-28) by four wickets.