A superb bowling performance from Pakistan's left-arm seamers inflicted the Proteas' first-ever PinkDay defeat at the Wanderers on Sunday, to leave the series poised at 2-2 with an eight-wicket victory.
Full ScorecardFresh from winning the rain-affected clash at Centurion on Friday, the Proteas would've been confident of wrapping up the series in Johannesburg on Sunday, especially considering they'd won all seven of their previous PinkDay clashes.
The controversy surrounding Sarfraz Ahmed's comments about Andile Phehlukwayo last week and his subsequent four-match ban further added to the frustration of the Pakistanis.
But the cunning captaincy of new skipper Shoaib Malik and the superb performance of his trio of left-arm seamers, Mohammad Amir, Shaheen Afridi and Usman Shinwari, inspired a comfortable victory to set up the decider in Cape Town on Wednesday.
[embed:video:id=1038994]All four matches have now been won by chasing, and this was by the far the easiest of the lot. Pakistan understandably opted to bowl first after winning the toss, and they didn't take long to grab the upper hand, with 18-year-old Afridi seeing off Quinton de Kock and Reeza Hendricks for a duck and two respectively.
Hashim Amla and Faf du Plessis then set about repairing the damage, and they did so with great efficiency, albeit without much urgency. Amla took 59 balls to bring up his half-century, while Du Plessis took 73.
When they brought up their hundred-run stand, that's when things started to fall apart. Du Plessis attempted to slog-sweep Shadab Khan, but was caught in the deep to perish for 57.
A few overs later, with the run rate starting to drop, Amla also fell to spin, this time bowled by Imad Wasim. When David Miller was trapped lbw by Mohammad Amir for four, that's when the alarm bells started to ring.
The damage was then all but complete in the 38th over, which saw Shinwari take three wickets in four balls. Rassie van der Dussen was the first victim for 18, and Dale Steyn and Kagiso Rabada quickly followed. If it weren't for a tiny inside edge from Beuran Hendricks, Shinwari would've had him lbw, and in the process a hat-trick.
The final eight wickets fell for just 45 runs, as Shinwari (4-35), Amir (1-26) and Afridi (2-24) took seven wickets between them. The Proteas were ultimately bowled out for just 164.
Fakhar Zaman and Imam Ul-Haq, the top-two quickest batsmen to 1000 ODI runs in history, took the sting out of any potential hiccup, with a brisk and chance-less 70-run stand. It was a welcome return to form for Zaman, following a poor test series an lean returns in the first three ODIs.
He would eventually perish, as Imran Tahir, in his return to the side, drew him into a big shot which was caught on the boundary by Van der Dussen for 44.
Imam Ul-Haq continued his rich vein of form with another assured 50, backed up by the talented Babar Azam. They picked off the remaining runs with ease, but with one run left to win, Imam tried to win in style and it backfired as he edged behind to fall for 71. Sarfraz's replacement, Mohammad Rizwan, struck the final blow, with Azam unbeaten on 41. The inevitable was achieved with a huge 18.3 overs to spare.
It was an anti-climatic atmosphere for the sold-out crowd, many of whom were dressed in pink for the charitable occasion. It brings an end to the Proteas' unbeaten PinkDay run. A thrilling decider awaits in Cape Town on Wednesday.
SOUTH AFRICA: Quinton de Kock (wk), Hashim Amla, Reeza Hendricks, Faf du Plessis (capt), Rassie van der Dussen, David Miller, Andile Phehlukwayo, Kagiso Rabada, Dale Steyn, Imran Tahir, Beuran Hendricks
PAKISTAN: Imam-ul-Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik (capt), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Amir, Usman Khan, Shaheen Afridi