Pakistan Register 3rd Consecutive Series Wins vs South Africa, Beat Hosts In 2nd ODI By 81 Runs

Pakistan sealed their third ODI series on the trot against South Africa with an 81-run victory in second ODI, driven by Babar Azam's fifty.

Cape Town:Pakistan produced another stunning display with both bat and ball and registered a dominating 81-run victory against South Africa at the Newland Stadium here on Friday, December 20, 2024. With this win, they sealed the series with a game remaining in the series. This was Pakistan's third consecutive series win against South Africa in ODIs.

The Pakistani batters put up a healthy total on the board and the bowlers were even better. On the other hand, South Africa will look at the scorecard and see their top five batters getting into double digits but failing to convert except for the in-form batter Heinrich Klaasen, who made a significant contribution, scoring 97 off 74 balls which included 8 fours and 4 sixes. Four of them even crossed the 20-run mark but could not hold on to the start.

Pakistan kept picking wickets at regular intervals but it was Shaheen Shah Afridi's second spell that really turned the game in their favour. Shaheen came back and broke the crucial 68-run partnership between two most experienced South African batters, southpaw David Miller (29 off 39 balls) and Klaasen, who picked up a couple more in that spell and added another in the third spell. His first spell - 4-0-29-0, his final bowling figures - were 8-0-47-4. The rest of the bowlers supported him well and kept things under control for most parts.

Earlier, after being asked to bat, Pakistan batters produced a stellar batting display, led by the likes of former skipper Babar Azam (73 off 95 balls), captain Mohammad Rizwan (80 off 82 balls), and Kamran Ghulam (63 off 32 balls) that saw them posting massive 330-run target against the hosts.

Debutant Kwena Mphaka was the pick of the bowlers for South Africa, taking a four-fer although he was very expensive. He finished the innings with figures of 72/4 in 9.5 overs which included a maiden. Marco Jansen was also a little expensive but picked up three crucial wickets to restrict the visitors past the 350-run mark while Bjorn Fortuin and Andile Phehlukwayo picked a wicket each.

Pakistan are getting some momentum as they eye to defend the Champions Trophy 2025 which is set to be held in a hybrid model, with only India's matches being held outside Pakistan. They have recorded three ODI series wins including Australia, and Zimbabwe and now they have beaten South Africa as well and have a great chance to script history by handing them a whitewash at their own den.

South Africa might be without some of their key fast bowlers for the ongoing series as they aim to strengthen their chances to qualify for the World Test Championship (WTC) final, but the batting line-up is more or less the same and they have been disappointing so far. They have one more game to rectify their mistakes and get something out of this series before the highly anticipated Champions Trophy returns after a prolonged gap of 8 years.

The third and final ODI will be played at The Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg on Sunday, December 22, 2024.