LAHORE – Pakistan beat South Africa by three runs in the first T20 cricket match of the series played at Gaddafi Stadium Lahore on Thursday.
Powered by a splendid innings by Sharjeel Khan, who scored 104 runs from 63 balls, Green shirts managed to restrict Protease at 166 in chase of 170-run target.
Winning moments!#PAKvSA Highlights: https://t.co/hSBVHU1ZMR#HarHaalMainCricket #BackTheBoysInGreen pic.twitter.com/IqS0UU89iW
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) February 11, 2021
The Proteas were in a strong position early in the game before Usman Qadir’s took two key wickets for 21 runs. Haris Rauf also sent two visiting players to pavilions while Faheem Ashraf claimed one wicket.
.@Qadircricketer reviews his performance in first #PAKvSA T20I!
Overs: 4
Wickets: 2
Economy 5.25#HarHaalMainCricket | #BackTheBoysInGreen pic.twitter.com/gSq00kHgF1— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) February 11, 2021
Earlier today, Proteas won toss and opted to field first against Pakistan.
Pakistan’s top batting order failed to maintain a momentum as Captain Babar Azam was run out for duck on second ball of the match.
Hosts lost their second wicket in sixth over when Haider Ali was caught out by Jacques Snyman off Andile Phehlukwayo’s ball.
By tenth over, Pakistan had seven wickets in hand while trying to build a momentum. At that time Mohammad Rizwan held the reins and provided much-needed stability to the team.
Rizwan with his maiden ton helped Pakistan set a respectable target of 170 runs for Protease.
Mohammad Rizwan’s splendid 104-run knock in first Twenty20 International match against South Africa made him second Pakistani player to hit ton in the fastest format of cricket as well all three formats.
Match Summary!
Pakistan win by three runs.Scorecard: https://t.co/I8APgc6AwX#PAKvSA | #HarHaalMainCricket | #BackTheBoysInGreen https://t.co/VLVxBF0u6U pic.twitter.com/PZx4fSnCAn
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) February 11, 2021
Rizwan’s century has another distinction as it was the first saw by Gaddafi Stadium Lahore, the venue for the first match of the T20 series. He has also become the first-ever wicketkeeper of the country to score 100 in T20.
