Pakistan and South Africa remain in Faisalabad the the second One Day International on Thursday and after a narrow win in the series opener the home side are 1-0 up with two to play
This is a three match series with the final contest also taking place at this venue on Saturday. The two match test series at the start of the tour was shared 1-1 and Pakistan won last week’s T20 series 2-1.
The first ODI took place here on Tuesday and Pakistan came out on top by 2 wickets. Pakistan won the toss and opted to bowl first and the Proteas posted 263 all out in 49.1 overs. The visitors made a brisk start with openers Lhuan-dre Pretorius (57) and de Kock (went on to make 63) putting on 98 for the first stick in 16 overs. Thereafter wickets fell at regular intervals, skipper Breetzke made 42 and down the order Corbin Bosch hit 41 as the Proteas began to run out of wickets. Naseem Shah (3/40) and Abrar Ahmed (3/53) were the most successful of the Pakistan bowlers.
The run chase started in similar fashion to the Proteas innings with Saim Ayub (39) and Fakhar Zaman (went on to make 45) sharing an opening stand of 87 in 15.2 overs. Rizwan (55) and Salman Agha (62) looked to have Pakistan on course for a comfortable win but 241/4 quickly became 263/8 and Pakistan got over the line with just 2 wickets and 2 balls to spare. Ngidi, Ferreira and Bosch took 2 wickets a piece.
South Africa cleared the ropes 6 times and Pakistan hit 5 maximums and Salman Agha was named Man of the Match.
This was how the teams lined up in the first ODI
Pakistan: Saim Ayub, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Salman Agha, Hussain Talat, Hasan Nawaz, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Afridi (c), Naseem Shah, Abrar Ahmed
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Tony de Zorzi, Matthew Breetzke (c), Sinethemba Qeshile, Donovan Ferreira, George Linde, Corbin Bosch, Bjorn Fortuin, Lungi Ngidi, Lizaad Williams
Pakistan Recent Form
Pakistan's most recent ODI action came in the Caribbean in August where they lost a 3 match series 2-1 to West Indies.
In March / April this year they lost 3-0 in New Zealand and in the Champions Trophy they finished bottom of their pool with 2 defeats and 1 no result.
South Africa Recent Form
The Proteas won 2-1 in England in September and they were also 2-1 winners in Australia in August.
They made it to the semi finals of the Champions Trophy early in the year where they lost to New Zealand.
Recent Head to Head
The most recent meeting came in February this year in Karachi, a tri series in preparation for the Champions Trophy and Pakistan won by 6 wickets.
In South Africa in December 2024 Pakistan completed a 3-0 clean sweep.
Overall the teams have met 88 times in this format with Pakistan winning 35 to South Africa’s 52 with 1 no result
The Betting
At the time of writing Pakistan are 0.47/1 to win and South Africa are 16/10 with Pokerbet
Prices subject to change
The Verdict
Aside from the openers that wasn’t easy for the majority of the batters on Tuesday. I quite like the price for Lhuan-dre Pretorius to follow up with another good knock for SA at the top of the order and another chance is given to Saim Ayub to shine for Pakistan.
Bet: Top SA Bat Lhuan-dre Pretorius at 9/2 with Sportingbet
Top Pakistan Bat Saim Ayub at 4.25/1 with Sportingbet
Note, prices are subject to change