Linde stars as South Africa win first T20I against Pakistan

South Africa defeated Pakistan in the first T20I on Wednesday morning (AEDT) in Durban, maintaining their momentum across formats after winning the Test series against Sri Lanka earlier in the week.

The hosts prevailed by 11 runs courtesy of an all-round effort by George Linde, who struck 48 runs from 24 balls to take South Africa through to 9/183, then took 4/21 as Pakistan finished on 8/172.

Linde, who had not played for the Proteas since July 2021, revealed a bizarre motivation for his performance on Tuesday.

“I missed the bus coming to the ground today,” he said.

“The police escorted me to the bus, and they waited for me, it was a little embarrassing.

“I felt like I had to deliver for the team today and glad I did.”

Cricket betting sites had South Africa as -188.68 favourites to win the first T20I, but a strong start by the visitors had the home side in early trouble.

Pakistan’s quicks reduced the home team to 3/28 in the fourth over, with Reeza Hendricks (8), Rassie van der Dussen (0) and Matthew Breetzke (8) all falling cheaply.

However, David Miller’s 82 from 40 steadied the innings, making up the bulk of South Africa’s scoring alongside Linde.

“[It was] a dream comeback,” Linde continued.

“I have played quite a lot of cricket, had a pretty good season so far.

“I just try to stay calm at the crease and take a deep breath and always ask myself what does the team needs from myself.

“I am just glad I delivered for the team.

“I just felt calm today for some reason.”

In response, Pakistani captain Mohammad Rizwan was impressive at the top of the order, batting through to the final over for his 74 runs.

However, Rizwan did not have much help from the rest of the lineup, with Saim Ayub (31) and Tayyab Tahir (18) the only others making double digits.

Top online bookmakers have South Africa pegged as -185.19 favourites for the second T20I on Saturday morning, with Pakistan paying +150 to square the series in Centurion.

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