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Agha and Ayub heroics lead Pakistan to tense win over Proteas

cricket17 December 2024 20:10| © MWP
By:Ross Roche
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A superb all-round performance from Salman Agha led Pakistan to a tense three-wicket win over the Proteas in the opening one-day international of the three-match series at Boland Park in Paarl on Tuesday.

Agha was the star performer with the ball, picking up career best figures of 4-32, to help limit the Proteas to a below par 239-9 in their 50 overs batting first, before he led his team home with the bat, hitting an unbeaten 82 off 90 balls (4x4; 2x6) to deservedly be named man of the match.

Pakistan opener Saim Ayub played almost as big a role, scoring an impressive century before he was out for 109 off 119 (10x4; 3x6) and it was his partnership with Agha that proved to be a match winning one in the end.

The Proteas will point to their poor effort with the bat that left them with too little to defend, before their bowlers produced a solid showing with the ball to take the game to the last over.

“We felt we were short. We were looking at 270 at least, but closer to 290 to 300. We wanted to reflect nicely with bat and ball and find some nice improvements ahead of the (second) game in Cape Town,” explained captain Aiden Makram after the match.

“Ultimately we were at about 80 per cent with both bat and ball today, and that 20 per cent short cost us the match. But I was happy with the character and fight to take it to the last over.”

STYLISH AYUB SCORES A TON

The Pakistan chase got off to a rocky start as Marco Jansen removed Abdullah Shafiq for a fourth-ball duck, just missing the stumps with his previous delivery, but then adjusted his length to bowl the opener, leaving them on 2-1 in the second over.

Ayub and Babar Azam (23) steadied things with a 44-run second-wicket stand, before a flurry of wickets swung the match in the Proteas' favour.

Ottneil Baartman was the architect, as Azam popped a ball from him straight to Tristran Stubbs at short cover in the 15th over, followed by him bowling captain Mohammad Rizwan (1) with a cracking in-swinger at the start of the 17th as they slipped to 52-3.

At the start of the 20th over Kamran Ghulam (4) was run out after a mix-up with Ayub and some smart fielding from Stubbs, leaving Pakistan on 60-4 and in deep trouble.

However, that brought Agha in and along with Ayub they resurrected the chase with an impressive 141-run fifth-wicket stand off just 133 balls.

Both batters played positively, but it was the 35th over from Baartman that changed the complexion of the match.

At that stage Pakistan needed 107 runs to win off 16 overs, with the run rate heading towards seven an over, and Baartman had only gone for nine runs in his first five overs.

But Ayub started the over with back-to-back sixes and a four, while Agha added another boundary later in the over as it went for 22 and the run rate dipped towards five and a half.

Agha reached his fifty with a six over deep midwicket off the bowling of Tabraiz Shamsi in the 38th over, while Ayub cracked Kagiso Rabada for a four and pulled him for a six in the 40th to reach three figures in style.

With Pakistan now firm favourites, Rabada hit back in the 42nd over, having Ayub caught by Shamsi at deep fine leg, and then taking a simple return catch from Irfan Khan (1) a few balls later as the visitors slipped to 203-6.

Shamsi had Shaheen Afridi in a complete spin and eventually bowled him for an eight-ball duck in the 45th over, and with the score 209-7 the Proteas were suddenly right back in it.

But Agha showed great composure and shared an unbeaten 33-run with Naseem Shah (9*) take their side home with just three balls to spare.

KLAASEN CARRIES PROTEAS

In the first innings, after winning the toss and choosing to bat, the hosts suffered two collapses at different stages of their innings, where they lost seven wickets for 25 runs in total over both, which severely stunted their progress.

Heinrich Klaasen top scored for the Proteas with an entertaining 86 off 97 balls (7x4; 2x6), but didn’t receive enough support as he was the only batter to pass 36.

The Proteas' innings got off to a rollicking start thanks to openers Tony de Zorzi, 33 off 25 (6x4), and Ryan Rickelton, 36 off 38 (7x4), combining for a 70-run first-wicket partnership in the opening 10 overs.

De Zorzi was just getting into his flow as he cracked Agha for three boundaries in the 10th over, only for him to miss a flick and be trapped in front LBW to become the first wicket to fall.

That sparked a collapse that saw the Proteas lose four wickets for 18 runs in a three over spell, all off Agha, as Rickelton chopped on in his next over, followed by him bowling Rassie van der Dussen (8) and Tristan Stubbs (1) in the 14th as they crashed to 88-4.

That brought Klaasen in to join Markram (35) and they set about a rebuilding job with a 73-run fifth-wicket stand.

Markram had only managed one boundary in his 54-ball innings when he finally lost patience in the 32nd over.

He tried to hammer spinner Ayub over midwicket, but instead got a huge top edge with Ghulam tracking the ball well and taking a good catch, leaving the home side on 161-5.

Klaasen continued on his way as he dominated a 50-run partnership with Jansen (10), who struggled immensely to get the ball away, facing 27 deliveries, before he sent the ball straight down Afridi’s throat at long-on off Abrar Ahmed, with the score 211-6.

That started a slide that saw three wickets tumble for seven runs, as Andile Phehlukwayo (1) hit Ahmed straight to Ayub at short midwicket, while Klaasen was finally dismissed, superbly bowled middle stump by Afridi, as they slipped to 218-8.

Rabada (11) and Baartman (10*) crucially added 21 runs to the total as they saw out the final five-and-a-half overs, with Rabada run out off the last ball of the innings.

SOUTH AFRICA: Tony de Zorzi, Ryan Rickelton, Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram (capt), Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen, Marco Jansen, Andile Phehlukwayo, Kagiso Rabada, Ottneil Baartman, Tabraiz Shamsi

PAKISTAN: Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan (capt, wk), Kamran Ghulam, Salman Agha, Irfan Khan, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed

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