South Africa defeat Pakistan by 7 wickets to clinch ODI series

Monitoring Desk

CAPE TOWN: South Africa defeated Pakistan by seven wickets in the fifth and final match of the ODI series and won the series by 3-2.

According to details, South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis and Rassie van der Dussen smashed unbeaten fifties to reach the target of 241 runs successfully.

Earlier, opening batsman Fakhar Zaman hit an aggressive 70 before Pakistan’s innings stalled in the series-deciding fifth and final one-day international against South Africa on Wednesday.

With the series at stake, Pakistan made 240 for eight after being sent in to bat at Newlands.

But the scoring rate slowed after his dismissal, with only 49 runs scored in the next 15 overs.

Medium-paced all-rounders Dwaine Pretorius and Andile Phehlukwayo both took two wickets in a disciplined South African bowling performance.

The left-handed Zaman hit ten fours in making his first half-century after a sequence of low scores in both the Tests and the one-day internationals. He was dropped on 20 when he slashed Rabada to Hashim Amla, who could not hold a sharp, chest-high chance.

All four matches in the series, which is tied at 2-2, have been won by the side batting second, although the record at Newlands favours the team batting first by 28 to 12.

The home side has not kicked into top gear as yet in this five-match series after having blown the visitors away, 3-0, in the longest format of the game while Pakistan played a near-perfect match at the Wanderers on Sunday during the Pink ODI, inflicting a first ever “Pink” defeat on the Proteas.

Squads

PAKISTAN: Imam-ul-Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik (capt), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Amir, Shaheen Afridi, Usman Khan

SOUTH AFRICA: Quinton de Kock (wk), Hashim Amla, Reeza Hendricks, Faf du Plessis (capt), Rassie van der Dussen, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Wiaan Mulder, Dale Steyn, Kagiso Rabada, Imran Tahir