South Africa seal T20I series with 7-wicket win in Centurion

South Africa defeated Pakistan in the second T20I at SuperSport Park in Centurion, winning by seven wickets on Friday to claim the series with a game in hand.

The victory extends South Africa’s hot run of form, following a 2-0 Test whitewash of Sri Lanka that put them as heavy favourites with cricket bookmakers to win this series against Pakistan.

Friday’s match was a high-scoring affair, with Pakistan batting first and piling on 206/5.

The primary architect of the visitor’s total was Saim Ayub (98*), who carried his bat and ended two runs shy of a maiden T20I century from just 57 balls.

After captain Mohammad Rizwan (16) fell in the fourth over, Babar Azam (31) combined with Ayub for an 87-run partnership, taking Pakistan through to 103/1 after 11 overs.

A flurry of wickets then came, with Azam, Usman Khan (3) and Tayyab Tahir (6) all falling in the space of three overs.

Irfan Khan (30) then provided Ayub company until the death overs, with Abbas Afridi (11) appearing for a nice cameo in the final over too.

In response, South African opener Reeza Hendricks played the innings of his life, blasting 117 from 63 balls to muscle the Proteas to a seven-wicket win.

The result looked shaky when Ryan Rickelton (2) and Matthew Breetzke (12) fell early, but a 157-run partnership between Hendricks and Rassie van der Dussen (66) quickly swung live cricket betting odds in the home team’s favour.

While Hendricks fell 21 runs short of the target, captain Heinrich Klassen ensured there would be no late wobble, getting South Africa over the line with three balls to spare.

“Quite pleased to get three figures,” said player of the match Hendricks.

“It’s been a while since I reached that milestone, nice to contribute.

“It’s been a while since we won a series so that’s obviously a very special night.

“First over, five dots and got away, and so the moment I got that away, things started to click.

“I’m happy that I found the middle and things worked out in the end.

“One of those nights, the shots I played came off.”

South Africa and Pakistan will contest a dead rubber T20I to round out the series on Saturday in Johannesburg, with Marantelli Bet pricing the hosts as $1.53 favourites to win.

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