CENTURION - Reeza Hendricks delivered a scintillating century, overshadowing Saim Ayub’s valiant unbeaten 98, to propel South Africa to a thrilling five-wicket victory over Pakistan in the second T20I at SuperSport Park on Friday. With this win, South Africa sealed the three-match series with an unassailable 2-0 lead. Chasing a formidable target of 207, South Africa overcame an early collapse as Reeza Hendricks and Rassie van der Dussen stitched together a match-winning 157-run partnership for the third wicket. Hendricks smashed a breathtaking 117 off just 63 balls, laced with seven fours and ten sixes. His dismissal in the 18th over by Abbas Afridi briefly opened the door for Pakistan, but van der Dussen’s unbeaten 66 off 38 balls, supported by Heinrich Klaasen, guided the hosts home with three balls to spare. South Africa’s chase began shakily, losing Ryan Rickelton (2) and Matthew Breetzke (12) early to Jahandad Khan’s fiery spell, leaving them at 28-2. However, Hendricks and van der Dussen’s resilience turned the game in their favor. Earlier, Pakistan opted to bat first but suffered an early blow when skipper Mohammad Rizwan departed for just 9 runs. Saim Ayub and Babar Azam then steadied the innings with an 87-run stand before Babar (31) fell to George Linde. Debutant Dayyaan Galiem further dented Pakistan’s momentum by removing Usman Khan (3) and Tayyab Tahir (6) in quick succession. Saim Ayub found support in Irfan Khan, adding 73 runs off 32 balls to take Pakistan to a competitive total of 206-5. Saim remained unbeaten on a brilliant 98 off 57 balls, studded with 11 fours and five sixes, narrowly missing his maiden century. For South Africa, Galiem and Ottneil Baartman took two wickets apiece, while Linde chipped in with one.
Scores in Brief
SOUTH AFRICA 210-3 (Hendricks 117, van der Dussen 66*, Jahandad 2-40) beat PAKISTAN 206-5 (Ayub 98*, Azam 31, Irfan 30, Galiem 2-21) by five wickets.