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Proteas seal series win

South Africa won the second Twenty20 International too by an identical six wickets at the Shaikh Zayed International Cricket Stadium on Wednesday night. South Africa had won the first T20 too by six wickets on Tuesday night.

Theron, who made his debut in the home series against Zimbabwe, where he scored a debut hundred, snapped up four wickets with his medium pace, including that of dangerman Shahid Afridi after Tsotsobe had triggered the collapse with two crucial strikes. Theron’s three wickets came in the last over of the innings.

Needing 121, South Africa were kept tied up by a resolute Pakistan bowling attack, before they crossed the bridge with eight balls to spare. Graeme Smith made 38 from 42 balls with four boundaries, while Colin Ingram took them to the finish line with JP Duminy.

Meanwhile, in light of the passing of UAE Supreme Council Member and Ras Al Khaimah Ruler His Highness Shaikh Saqr bin Mohammed Al Qassimi, the entertainment for Wednesday’s Twenty20 International was cancelled and both teams wore black arm bands as a mark of respect.

Earlier, Pakistan won the toss for a second time and opted to make first use of the strip which had a tinge of green on it. Both teams retained the same playing XI.

It is learnt that South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis and quick Dale Steyn have recovered from their injuries and are fully fit. The duo will feature in the five-match one-day international series which follow the Twenty20 Internationals. The first ODI will be played in Abu Dhabi on Friday.

Pakistan self-destructed yet again, with the only difference being they had a pretty decent start on Tuesday as compared to Wednesday.

Pakistan opener Shahzaib Hassan started promisingly, flicking new-ball bowler Albie Morkel beautifully off his pads for a boundary. But he didn’t last long enough and was consumed in the next over. Hassan was caught by captain Johan Botha off Lonwabo Tsosobe’s fifth ball of his first over.

Then, southpaw Imran Farhat slapped a wideish delivery from Albie Morkel to the long-on boundary. Mohammed Hafeez, who joined Farhat, picked two consecutive boundaries off Tsotsobe. He first drove him through covers before guiding it to the fine-leg boundary after Tsotsobe had strayed down the leg side.

Tsotsobe did induce an edge from Hafeez but it died before getting to Graeme Smith, the lone man at slip.

But Hafeez was on his way back in the next over, playing on and lost his off stump to Morne Morkel’s first ball of his first over. Morne had replaced brother Albie. Misbah-ul-Haq came up the batting order and tried to stabilise the innings.

Pakistan were still decently placed for an assault at 29 for two after five overs, but that’s when they imploded. Farhat played a silly shot, trying to hoick Tsotsobe but was castled.

Then, new batsman Umar Akmal was run out, going for a suicidal second. Misbah played and called for a single and the batsmen went through. Akmal wanted a second but Misbah wasn’t interested. Akmal, who had charged halfway down the pitch, returned but was beaten by a good throw and wicketkeeper AB de Villiers removed the bails in a flash.

Captain Shahid Afridi, who played a neat cameo on Tuesday, didn’t fire this time. He tried to smash medium pacer Rusty Theron, one of the new members in the South African squad, but couldn’t get a hold of the shot and was swallowed by Smith, who ran in from third-man.

Pakistan were tottering at 52 with half the side gone before Misbah and Abdur Razzaq went into damage control mode. Razzaq clubbed a straight six off spinner Botha. The duo strung together 45 runs before Misbah departed for a top score of 33 from 38 balls with two boundaries and a six. Razzaq made 25 from 29 balls with two sixes.

Pakistan reached 100 in 18 overs and it was the slowest 100 in Twenty20 Internationals. Theron snapped three wickets in the last over as Pakistan were restricted to a below par score of 120 in their 20 overs.

james@khaleejtimes.com

Scoreboard

PAKISTAN

Shahzaib Hasan c Botha b Tsotsobe 6

Imran Farhat b Tsotsobe 9

Mohammad Hafeez b M Morkel 14

Misbah-ul-Haq c A. Morkel b Theron 33

Umar Akmal run out 5

Shahid Afridi c Smith b Theron 3

Abdul Razzaq c Theron b A. Morkel 25

Zulqarnain Haider b Theron 17

Umar Gul b Theron 0

Saeed Ajmal not out 1

Extras: (lb3, w4) 7

Total: (nine wkts, 20 overs) 120

Did not bat: Shoaib Akhtar

Fall of wickets: 1-9 (Hasan), 2-29 (Hafeez), 3-29 (Farhat), 4-36 (Akmal), 5-39 (Afridi), 6-84 (Razzaq), 7-119 (Haq), 8-119 (Gul), 9-120 (Haider)

Bowling: M. Morkel 4-0-31-1, Tsotsobe 4-0-20-2, A. Morkel 4-1-22-1 (1w), Botha 4-0-17-0 (2w), Theron 4-0-27-4 (1W)

SOUTH AFRICA

G. Smith st Haider b Ajmal 38

L. Bosman lbw b Afridi 11

AB de Villiers c Farhat b Afridi 11

J. Duminy not out 20

C. Ingram c Akmal b Akhtar 31

D. Miller not out 6

Extras: (lb2, w6) 8

Total: (four wkts, 18.4 overs) 125

Did not bat: A. Morkel, J. Botha, M. Morkel, R. Theron, L. Tsotsobe

Fall of wickets: 1-38 (Bosman), 2-63 (De Villiers), 3-68 (Smith), 4-109 (Ingram)

Bowling: Akhtar 4-0-36-1 (1w), Gul 3.4-0-32-0 (1w), Hafeez 4-0-19-1 (3w), Afridi 4-0-13-1, Ajmal 3-0-23-1 (1w)

Overs: 18.4

Result: South Africa won by six wickets

Umpires: Asad Rauf (PAK) and Nadeem Ghouri (PAK)

TV umpire: Ahsan Raza (PAK)

Match referee: A. Pycroft (ZIM)