Salman Agha and Mohammad Rizwan broke a number of records as they powered Pakistan to a brilliant six-wicket win over the Proteas in their Tri-Series match at the National Stadium in Karachi on Wednesday.
Agha crunched 134 off 103 balls, hitting 16 fours and two sixes along the way, while Rizwan ended unbeaten on 122 off 128 (9x4; 3x6) as they chased down a daunting 352 for five that the Proteas had managed batting first.
Their incredible fourth-wicket partnership, of 260 runs off 229 balls, was the highest ever for Pakistan, and the second-highest in ODI history, behind the unbeaten 275-run stand between Mohammad Azharuddin (153) and Ajay Jadeja (116) for India against Zimbabwe in 1998.
Although Agha fell in the penultimate over, he had already done his job by that stage as Pakistan reached their target with an over to spare.
The result means that Pakistan qualify for the Tri-Series final against New Zealand at the same ground on Friday, while the Proteas miss out after losing both their games.
Salman Agha and Mohammad Rizwan lead Pakistan to a 6-wicket victory over @ProteasMenCSA 🇵🇰🇿🇦
— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV) February 12, 2025
They set up a Tri-Nation final with New Zealand on Friday ⏩🇳🇿#PAKvSA | #SummerOfCricket pic.twitter.com/tEz3qQpLcV
“I think getting to 350 you obviously back yourself. We were confident at the start of their innings, but we just didn’t start well,” explained Proteas captain Temba Bavuma after the match.
“We managed to get a couple of wickets that kind of slowed them down, but we weren’t able to get any momentum and most importantly take wickets throughout their innings.”
The Pakistan chase got off to a cracking start as Fakhar Zaman, 41 off 28 (6x4; 1x6) and Babar Azam, 23 off 19 (4x4), shared 57 for the first wicket off six overs.
Azam was then first to fall, trapped LBW by Wiaan Mulder with his first delivery of the match, with the score 57 for one.
Zaman and Saud Shakeel (15) added 30 for the second wicket before Shakeel was caught on the boundary by Mulder off the bowling of Corbin Bosch, and Zaman edged Mulder to diving keeper Heinrich Klaasen, as they slipped to 91 for three in the 11th over.
But that brought Agha in to join Rizwan and they proceeded to lay waste to the Proteas' bowlers over the rest of an incredible chase, leading them to a comfortable win in the end.
Earlier in the game big half-centuries from the bats of Heinrich Klaasen, Matthew Breetzke and Bavuma powered the Proteas to a strong score.
Klaasen clubbed 11 fours and three sixes on his way to 87 off 56 balls down the back end, after Breetzke, 83 off 84 (10x4; 1x6) and Bavuma, 82 off 96 (13x4) had set the platform with a superb partnership at the top of the order.
At the start of play, the Proteas won the toss and chose to bat first, getting off to a solid start as Bavuma and Tony de Zorzi, 22 off 18 (3x4; 1x6) combined for a 51-run opening stand.
De Zorzi looked good in his brief stay, but pushed at a Shaheen Afridi ball in the channel that he probably should have left, getting a thick edge to Aghar diving to his right at first slip.
That brought Breetzke in and along with Bavuma they set about building a good platform with a 119-run second-wicket partnership.
Breetzke cut Abrar Ahmed for a boundary at the start of the 16th over to bring up the Proteas hundred, followed by a single from Bavuma off Agha in the next over seeing him bring up his fifty.
A single from Bavuma off Khushdil Shah in the 24th over brought up the Proteas 150, followed by Breetzke driving a single through the covers off Naseem Shah in the next over to bring up his half-century.
But just as it was looking like these two would build a huge stand Bavuma ran himself out, knocking the ball to backward point and setting off for a single that wasn’t on, with Breetzke sending him back, but too late as Shakeel nailed the direct hit, leaving them on 170 for two.
Breetzke and Klaasen then settled in for a 68-run partnership and brought the 200 up in true Klaasen style as he hammered Mohammad Hasnain for four boundaries in the 34th over to get over the mark.
It finally took a stunning catch to remove Breetzke at the start of the 39th over, as he tried to powerfully drive Khushdil down the ground, only for Agha to dive to his right at short cover and stick out his right hand to take a superb grab and send him on his way with the score 238 for three.
New batter Mulder (2) was in and out, cutting Afridi straight to Shakeel at backward point in the next over as they slipped to 241 for four.
But Kyle Verreynne, 44no off 32 (3x4; 1x6), came in and helped Klaasen get them over the 300-run mark, as they combined for a 78-run fifth-wicket stand.
Klaasen brought up his fifty with a single off Naseem in the 42nd over, and in the 46th took aim at Afridi, smashing him for back-to-back sixes, a four and a three as 20 came off the over, with the bowler getting a bit of revenge in his next over as he had Klaasen caught at long-on.
That brought Bosch, 15 off nine (1x4; 1x6) in and he helped add 33 to the score off the final 16 balls with Verreynne as the Proteas finished on top.
SOUTH AFRICA: Tony de Zorzi, Temba Bavuma (capt), Matthew Breetzke, Kyle Verreynne (wk), Heinrich Klaasen, Wiaan Mulder, Senuran Muthusamy, Corbin Bosch, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi, Tabraiz Shamsi
PAKISTAN: Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan (capt, wk), Salman Agha, Tayyab Tahir, Khushdil Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Hasnain, Naseem Shah, Abrar Ahmed