CENTURION: Super Sport Park here is the venue where Green Shirts and South African cricket squads are playing the decisive 3rd and final One Day International today (7th of April, 2021).
After winning the toss the host sent Pakistan in to bat that has set South Africa a target of 321 runs. While the host team made seven changes, (left-arm wrist spinner Tabraiz Shamsi was dropped, Shamsi was replaced with spinner Keshav Maharaj) Pakistan made four changes (spinner Shadab Khan suffering from a toe injury has been replaced by Usman Qadir, batsmen Danish Aziz and Asif Ali were replaced by Mohammad Nawaz and Sarfraz Ahmed, fast bowler Hasan Ali replaced Mohammad Hasnain).
Finally Pakistani team consists of Imam-ul-Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Mohammed Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Qadir, Haris Rauf.
South African squad has the following players after the reshuffle: Janneman Malan, Aiden Markram, Jon-Jon Smuts, Temba Bavuma, Kyle Verreynne, Heinrich Klaasen, Andile Phehlukwayo, Keshav Maharaj, Daryn Dupavillon, Beuran Hendricks, Lutho Sipamla.
In the second ODI that was played on Sunday 4th of April, 2021, despite Fakhar Zaman’s 193 runs off 155 balls (embellished by 18 fours and 10 sixes) S. Africa has beaten Green Shirts by 17 runs by scoring 324-9.
On the bowling front S. African fast bowler Anrich Nortje sent three Green-Shirts to Pavilion yielding only 63 runs. African opener Quinton de Kock’s bat yielded 80, skipper Temba Bavuma scored 92, Rassie van der Dussen mustered 60 runs up off 37 deliveries and David Miller made half a century facing 27 balls. Finally S. Africa posted the total of 341-6.
Earlier, Pakistan had beaten the South African Cricket team by three wickets in the first One Day International in the final ball thriller. Since 103 runs scored by Babar Azam off 104 deliveries contributed immensely towards Pakistan’s victory, he was declared player of the match. Babar Azam shared a second-wicket partnership of 177 with Imam-ul-Haq, who scored 70.
Then Anrich Nortje attacked the Green Shirts and took four wickets in four overs. Due to this onslaught Pakistan, that was 186 for one, with 18 overs in hand to reach a target of 274, found itself at 203 for five. At that moment the duo of Mohammad Rizwan and Shadab Khan added 53 in a sixth-wicket stand before calling it a day. It was left upto Faheem Ashraf to hit the winning run off Andile Phehlukwayo off the last ball.
South African skipper Temba Bavuma earlier stated that his squad would attempt to muster up a total in the vicinity of 280: “There might be something in the wicket for the bowlers but on this ground we can score quite a lot at the end if there are wickets in hand.” It may be noted that the 3-match ODI series is part of the International Cricket Council’s World Cup Super League.
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