Pretorius, De Kock strike half-centuries in SA's 262
Debutant Lhuan-dre Pretorius and Quinton de Kock struck half-centuries to form the bedrock of South Africa’s 263 in 49.1 overs in the first ODI against Pakistan at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad on Tuesday.
South Africa found batting much easier in the first half of their innings, but struggled as the ball grew softer, stuck in the pitch and turned.
It took two useful innings of 42 and 41 from Matthew Breetzke and Corbin Bosch to take the Proteas past 250.
Pakistan won the toss and chose to insert South Africa, perhaps hoping that late evening dew would complicate things for the fielding side.
It was Pretorius, making his ODI debut, who particularly impressed up front, commandeering the early strike, timing the ball superbly and hitting with great force.
De Kock, who didn’t face a ball until the middle of the third over, was happy to play the supporting role.
The pair added 62 in the first power play, with Pretorius reaching 47 off 44 balls. Pretorius went to his half-century immediately after the break, becoming the 11th South African to reach the mark in his first ODI.
The pair reached 98 in 96 balls, with very little happening for the Pakistan bowlers, when Pretorius was out edging a drive off offspinner Saim Ayub, one of the few balls to turn, with Mohammad Nawaz clasping a good diving catch at backward point.
The left-hander struck seven fours and a six in hiss 60-ball innings.
De Kock had started to flourish and the experienced left-hander, playing his first ODI innings in two years, added 43 in 52 balls with Tony de Zorzi before chopping on to paceman Naseem Shah for 63 (71 balls, 6x4s, 2x6s).
SPINNERS STRANGLE SA
Conditions now began to change in the middle overs of the South African innings with the Pakistan spinners making life increasingly awkward for the batters.
De Zorzi got a leading edge and was caught and bowled by Saim, but skipper Matthew Breetzke, after a slow start, dug in effectively for 42 in 40 balls, including two fours and two sixes.
5️⃣0️⃣9️⃣ runs in seven ODI innings for Matthew Breetzke 🇿🇦🔥
— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV) November 4, 2025
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He was kept good company, for a while, by ODI debutant Sinethemba Qeshile (22) before falling to a catch at short third man.
Donovan Ferreira and George Linde both fell cheaply, frustrated over not being able to score freely, and it took Bosch to edge the Proteas past the 250-mark.
The allrounder struck six fours in his innings and gave his team a respectable total to defend.
For Pakistan Naseem Shah and Abrar Ahmed claimed three wickets each.
PAKISTAN: Fakhar Zaman, Saim Ayub, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Salman Agha, Hussain Talat, Hasan Nawaz, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Shah Afridi (capt), Naseem Shah, Abrar Ahmed
SOUTH AFRICA: Quinton de Kock (wk), Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Tony de Zorzi, Matthew Breetzke (capt), Sinethemba Qeshile, Donovan Ferreira, George Linde, Corbin Bosch, Bjorn Fortuin, Lungi Ngidi, Lizaad Williams
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