Corbin Bosch and Linde ripped through the Pakistani batting order, with the fast bowler taking four wickets, while Reeza Hendricks scored a brilliant sixty. In Rawalpindi, South Africa defeated Pakistan by a total of 55 runs in the first of the three Twenty20 Internationals thanks to an all-around performance by George Linde (36 off 22 and 3 for 31).
Quinton de Kock was allowed to bat and quickly settled in before hitting a barrage of boundaries. Saim Ayub was taken for two fours by him as he feasted on anything on the leg side, but de Kock cut one to cover point, adding to the part-timer’s ability to disrupt partnerships. Hendricks was well set by that point, having hit two flat-bat strokes to the fence, while Tony de Zorzi, who was making his debut, provided support.
South Africa dominated the last two overs of the PowerPlay, scoring three boundaries apiece as they rushed to 74 for 1. Then, the two took 15 runs off the over of Salman Ali Agha, but de Zorzi was stumped after scoring an impressive 33 off 16 balls. After only five balls from Dewald Brevis, Pakistan fought back, and Ayub hit once more to dismiss Matthew Breetzke. South Africa struggled after a bright start after Donovan Ferreira left on a bad note.
Despite the abundance of wickets surrounding him, Hendricks maintained the innings’ pace and reached his 18th T20I fifty off 33 balls.
After settling after eight balls, Linde hit four consecutive boundaries in the 17th over into Shaheen Afridi. Before Linde was bowled in the following over, he slog-swept Abrar Ahmed for six. The legspinner responded by removing Hendricks. In the last over, South Africa scored 194 for 9 after Afridi cleaned out the tail.
Ayub almost got caught for a duck in the first over, but Breetzke dropped him, setting up a shaky start to Pakistan’s chase. Lizaad Williams knocked Sahibzada Farhan off his feet when he briefly increased the pace with four boundaries in seven balls. Soon after his return, Pakistan was at 34 for 2 at the end of the PowerPlay when Babar Azam was dismissed.
As Agha left cheaply for 2 off 7, the pressure mounted. In response, Ayub blasted two consecutive sixes off Linde and another in the spinner’s subsequent over, but Linde got the final laugh and knocked him out at cover. He then swiftly dismissed Usman Khan and Faheem Ashraf, then hasan Nawaz was dismissed by Lungi Ngidi, leaving Pakistan reeling at 89 for 7.
Bosch hit to take out Afridi after a quick counterattack by Muhammad Nawaz that took 15 off Ngidi. Naseem Shah gave Williams two more boundaries before falling behind Bosch, who finished with four for fourteen. Nawaz persisted in his strong swing, scoring 14 runs off Nandre Burger, but Williams finished the innings in the last over to ensure a decisive victory for South Africa.
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