South Africa defeated Pakistan by 55 runs in the first T20I of the three-match series at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. George Linde was the hero for South Africa with his all-round performance and was named the Player of the Match.
Pakistan won the toss and elected to bowl first. South Africa got off to a blazing start and by the end of the powerplay, they were 74 for the loss of Quinton de Kock’s wicket. Reeza Hendricks was the highest scorer for the Proteas as he played a brilliant knock of 60 off 40 balls, including five fours and a six at a strike rate of 150. Linde played well down the order for his 36 off 22 balls and was instrumental in taking South Africa to 194/9 in their 20 overs. In an innings, when most of the batters were in hitting mode, Mohammad Nawaz bowled well as he took three wickets for just 26 runs in his four overs. Saim Ayub took two wickets.
In reply, Pakistan’s start was relatively slow as they could only manage to get 34 runs in the powerplay. Babar Azam disappointed his fans as he was dismissed for a duck as Pakistan lost wickets at regular intervals. Nawaz provided some resistance down the order but Pakistan finished far from the target. Corbin Bosch was magnificent for his 4/14 while Linde took three wickets. With this win South Africa took 1-0 lead in the series
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