CAPETOWN: Heinrich Klaasen’s stellar 97-run knock went in vain as Pakistan thumped South Africa in the second ODI to take an unassailable 2-0 in the series here on Thursday.
Chasing a target of 330 at Newlands, South Africa were bundled out for 248 in 43.1 overs with Naseem Shah taking the final wicket of Klaasen.
The right-handed batter waged a lone war against a dominant Pakistan bowling attack, hitting 97 runs from 74 balls with the help of eight boundaries and four sixes.
Tony de Zorzi and David Miller played valuable knocks of 34 and 29 respectively, but they were not enough to help South Africa chase a mammoth target.
Shaheen Afridi led the attack for Pakistan with bowling figures of 4-47, while Naseem claimed three wickets. Spin bowlers Abrar Ahmed and Salman Ali Agha bagged two and one each respectively.
Earlier, South Africa invited Pakistan to bat first and drew first blood with the wicket of out-of-form opener Abdullah Shafique (0) in the first over.
Saim Ayub scored 25 runs and constructed a 48-run stand for the second wicket with Babar Azam before becoming the first ODI wicket of debutant Kwena Maphaka.
Babar was joined by captain Mohammad Rizwan and they formed a solid partnership of 115 runs for the third wicket, with both batters scoring their half-centuries.
Andile Phehlukwayo broke the partnership with the wicket of Babar, who departed after scoring 73 runs from 95 balls with the help of seven boundaries.
Meanwhile, Rizwan also fell soon afterwards as he fell prey to Maphaka after playing a gutsy knock of 80 off 82, which featured ten boundaries, including three sixes.
Kamran Ghulam then played a blinder of a knock to boost Pakistan’s scoring rate, smashing 63 runs from 32 balls, peppered with five sixes and four boundaries.
He added partnerships of 50 and 49 with Salman Ali Agha (33) and Irfan Khan (15) respectively before falling in the final over.
Pakistan lost their remaining two wickets and were bundled out for 329 in 50 overs.
Maphaka led the wicket-takers chart for South Africa with four wickets, while Marco Jansen took three wickets. Phehlukwayo and Bjorn Fortuin bagged one wicket each.
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