CENTURION: Reeza Hendricks scored a thrilling century and led South Africa to a seven-wicket victory over Pakistan in the second T20I of the three-match series against Pakistan here at SuperSport Park on Friday.
Set to chase 207, the home side claimed victory through Rassie van der Dussen, who hit a six off Abbas Afridi in the third shot of the final.
The hosts, however, made a shaky start to the innings, with left-arm pacer Jahandad Khan dismissing Ryan Rickelton (two) and Matthew Breetzke (12) in their successive overs, reducing them to 28/2 in four overs.
After the opening knock, Rassie van der Dussen joined hands with Reeza Hendricks and together they created a 157-run partnership that set up the match for the third wicket.
The marathon culminated on the 18th when Abbas Afridi got rid of Hendricks.
The right-handed wicketkeeper continued to be the home team’s top scorer with 117 off 63 deliveries, hitting seven boundaries and 10 sixes.
For his game-winning knock, Hendricks was named player of the match.
Rassie van der Dussen then put together an unbeaten 25-run partnership with captain Heinrich Klaasen (eight not out) and guided his team to a decisive series victory.
He hit three fours and five sixes on his way to an unbeaten 66 from 38 deliveries.
For Pakistan, Jahandad took two wickets while Abbas struck once.
Opting to bat first, the Green Shirts amassed 206/5 in the allotted 20 overs, thanks to an unbeaten knock from Saim Ayub.
The touring team, however, had a shaky start to the innings as white-ball captain Mohammad Rizwan (11) fell victim to Ottneil Baartman in the fourth over with just 16 runs on the board.
After the initial hiccup, batsman Babar Azam joined hands with Saim and put Pakistan in command with a key partnership.
The duo added 87 runs for the second wicket off just 45 balls until Babar was dismissed by George Linde in the 12th over.
The right-handed batsman made a significant contribution with his 20-ball 31, laced with three fours and a six.
Pakistan then lost two more wickets in quick succession as Usman Khan (three) and Tayyab Tahir (six) perished cheaply, reducing the total to 122/4 in 14.1 overs.
Saim was then involved in yet another crucial partnership for Pakistan when he added 73 runs for the fifth wicket with middle-order batsman Muhammad Irfan Khan, who played a cameo of 30 runs off just 16 deliveries.
Irfan’s dismissal in the final paved the way for Abbas Afridi, who added valuable runs at the death with a four-ball 11, while Saim remained stuck on 98 not out.
Saim Ayub top-scored for Pakistan with a 57-ball 98, which featured 11 fours and five sixes.
Dayyaan Galiem and Baartman bagged two wickets each for South Africa, while Linde contributed one wicket.
The seven-wicket win helped South Africa close out the three-match series 2-0 with one game to spare.
