Pakistan beat South Africa in third ODI to complete series whitewash

JOHANNESBURG – Pakistan beat South Africa by 36 runs (DLS) in the third ODI in Johannesburg on Sunday evening to complete a 3-0 whitewash.

Chasing a challenging 308-run target for the victory, South Africa kept losing wickets at regular intervals and were bundled out for 271 in 42 overs.

Heinrich Klaasen was the top scorer for the hosts with 81 runs, followed by debutant Corbin Bosch who made an unbeaten 40. Rassie van der Dussen contributed 35 runs, Tony de Zorzi and Marco Jansen 26 each, Aiden Markram 19 and Kagiso Rabada 14 runs.

Debutant Sufiyan Muqeem bagged four wickets, Naseem Shah and Shaheen Shah Afridi two each while Saim Ayub and Mohammad Hasnain took one wicket each.

Saim Ayub was named the player of the match and the player of the series.

After being asked to bat first by South Africa skipper Temba Bavuma in the reduced overs game due to rain, Pakistan lost Abdullah Shafique (o) in the first over with just one run on the board.

Saim Ayub (101) and Babar Azam (52) stitched a 114-run partnership for the second wicket under tough batting conditions to put Pakistan back on track. Saim Ayub put on another 93-run partnership with skipper Mohammad Rizwan (53) to provide a perfect launching pad for the visitors.

After losing key wickets of Saim Ayub, Mohammad Rizwan and Kamran Ghulam in quick succession, Salman Agha (48) and Tayyab Tahir (28) stitched a 74-run partnership to enable the hosts to reach 308/9 in the allocated 47 overs.

Kagiso Rabada bagged three wickets and Marco Jansen and Bjorn Fortuin two each while Kwena Maphaka and debutant Corbin Bosch took one wicket each.

Pakistan Playing XI: 1 Saim Ayub, 2 Abdullah Shafique, 3 Babar Azam, 4 Mohammad Rizwan (capt & wk), 5 Salman Ali, 6 Kamran Ghulam, 7 Tayyab Tahir, 8 Shaheen Shah Afridi, 9 Naseem Shah, 10 Mohammad Hasnain, 11 Sufiyaan Muqeem