Pakistan versus South Africa - South Africa Ride on Quinton de Kock's hundred to Crush Pakistan and level ODI Series 1-1

The South African secured a clinical eight-wicket win over Shaheen Afridi's Pakistan in the 2nd match of the KFC three-match One Day International series at the Iqbal Cricket Ground in Faisalabad on Thursday night and this win allowed them to stay alive in the series.

The win was built on the foundation set by the amazing not-out knock of 123 runs by wicket-keeper batter Quinton de Kock in 119 deliveries, which guided the 2023 ODI World Cup semi-finalists over the victory line. The Shaheens posted a decent score of 269 runs at the loss of nine wickets in their allotted quota of fifty overs. They lost wickets in the early phase, with opener Fakhar Zaman falling for a duck in the third delivery of their innnings and former skipper Babar Azam fell cheaply after contributing just 11 runs with the bat.

Saim Ayub (53 runs in 66 balls) retaliated with a half century, supported by the inning of 69 runs of Agha Salman & 59 runs by Mohammad Nawaz. A quickfire knock of 28 runs by Faheem Ashraf accelerated the innings of the hosts for a brief period of time and helped them register a decent score on the scoreboard.

Left-arm pacer Nandre Burger led the bowling unit of the Proteas from front, dismissing four Pakistani batters at the expense of 46 runs, while Nqabayomzi Peter also registered figures of 3-55 to his name. All-Rounder Corbin Bosch got two wicktes, while the other South African bowlers also contributed in an economical manner.

Chasing down a not-so difficult score of 270 runs, Matthew Breetzke's men reached the target in 40.2 overs with eight-wickets in hand. Opener Lhuan dre Pretorius added 45 runs before getting dismissed off the bowling of Mohammad Wasim. Southpaw Tony de Zorzi played a good hand with his inning of 76 runs, while the star de Kock remained not out till the end on 123 runs with the help of seven big sixes and eight boundaries. Skipper Breetzke also chipped in with a decent score of 17 runs.

Mohammad Wasim and Faheem Ashraf each claimed one wicket for Pakistan, but the other bowlers were unable to get through.
There were numerous crucial moments in the game.  Pakistan lost three wickets for twenty-two runs at the start of their innings.

Partnerships helped the middle order bounce back, but the total was constrained by several wickets in the last 10 overs.  With de Kock anchoring the innings and de Zorzi offering aggressiveness when needed, South Africa's pursuit remained methodical.
The series is now tied at one-one, and the final game is scheduled on Saturday, November 8, to decide the winner.

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