Babar Azam lauds Saim Ayub after series-winning performance against South Africa

Former Pakistan captain Babar Azam praised young opener Saim Ayub for his match-winning performance in the three-match ODI series against South Africa.

Saim played a stellar quick 101-run knock from 94 balls, laced with 15 boundaries that included two sixes, in the third ODI and helped Pakistan white-wash South Africa.

This was Saim’s second century in the series, earning him the Player of the Series award with a total of 235 runs and two wickets.

After the match, Babar Azam shared a photo of Saim on his Instagram story, referring to him as “Cheetah” in recognition of his outstanding performance.

During the third ODI, Babar Azam and Saim Ayub built a solid partnership of 114 runs from 133 balls for the second wicket to set-up Pakistan’s total of 308-9.

However, Kwena Maphaka broke the stand as he removed Babar, who scored 52 runs from 71 balls with the help of seven boundaries.

Saim was joined by skipper Mohammad Rizwan (53) and they increased the scoring rate with their 93-run stand that conceded only 75 balls.

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Rizwan and Saim fell in quick succession but Salman Ali Agha played a quick-fire knock of 48 runs from 33 balls and added a crucial partnership of 74 runs with Tayyab Tahir (28) to provide a finishing touch to Pakistan’s innings.

In response, South Africa, despite a spirited performance, were bundled for 271 runs in 42 overs.

It’s worth noting that Pakistan became the first-ever team to clean-sweep the Proteas in an ODI series in South Africa.

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