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Saim Ayub leads the way as South Africa suffers its first-ever home ODI whitewash
Saim Ayub leads the way as South Africa suffers its first-ever home ODI whitewash
Pakistan registered a historic 3-0 clean sweep against South Africa in the ODI series.
At the Wanderers South Africa was white-washed by Pakistan in a Bilateral ODI series as they lost 36 runs in a rain-affected game. Saim Ayub gave this both with the bat and ball, recording his second century in the series and taking 1 wicket for 34 runs. Meanwhile, debutant wrist spinner Sufiyan Muqeem impressed by taking 4 wickets for 52 runs, raising doubts about South Africa’s performance against spin bowling.
This loss means South Africa has only won one out of three ODI series this year, following a defeat to Afghanistan in Sharjah. Under white-ball coach Rob Walter, who started in February 2023, they have only won two out of six ODI series. In contrast, Pakistan has achieved their fifth consecutive series win after victories over New Zealand, Afghanistan, Australia, and Zimbabwe.
Ayub has had an outstanding summer in South Africa. He scored 98 not out in a T20I match in Centurion, and 109 in Paarl, and then led a strong performance for Pakistan at the Wanderers with a score of 101. He formed a solid 114-run partnership for the second wicket with Babar Azam and a 93-run partnership for the third wicket with Mohammad Rizwan, setting a great foundation for the team. Babar and Rizwan also scored half-centuries. Although Pakistan faced a couple of mini-collapses, their sixth-wicket partnership between Salman Agha and Tayyab Tahir produced 74 runs off 47 balls, helping them surpass a total of 300 runs. Their strategy of starting slow and finishing strong continues to work well, while South Africa still struggles with their top-order batting.
Heinrich was the only one who scored a half-century and was able to do so in all three matches. And also became the lead scorer in the series as scored an average of 88.00 without any support until Corbin Bosch's 44-ball 40, on debut at No.8, and make South Africa chase the target.
South Africa chose to bowl first in overcast conditions but couldn’t take full advantage of the opportunity. Although Kagiso Rabada troubled the batters early on by beating the edge multiple times, the team struggled with their control as the innings progressed. Bjorn Fortuin and Aiden Markram combined to bowl 13 overs of spin with a decent economy rate of 5.6 runs per over. However, the fast bowlers had a tough time; Marco Jansen conceded 58 runs in his nine overs, while Bosch and Kwena Maphaka, who was making his second ODI appearance on home turf, together bowled 15 overs for 119 runs and managed to take one wicket each.
South Africa got off to a good start when Abdullah Shafique hit a ball from Rabada to the second slip, making it his third duck in a row in the series. He has been out all three times due to outside edges, which South Africa will remember as they get ready for next week’s Test match. Sadly, the game was paused shortly after because of rain, stopping play for over an hour.
Babar Azam was lucky early on when South Africa dropped a catch, but he couldn't score a century this year. Saim Ayub played aggressively and scored a century (100 runs) off 91 balls. Pakistan reached 308 in 47 overs, mainly because of thecontributions from Rizwan and others. South Africa’s bowlers, especially Fortuin and Rabada, took important wickets but couldn't stop Pakistan from scoring well.
South Africa started well but lost wickets regularly. Heinrich Klaasen fought hard, scoring 50 off 29 balls, but South Africa was bowled out for 271. Pakistan’s bowlers, especially Muqeem and Afridi, made it difficult for South Africa to chase the target. In the end, Pakistan won by 37 runs. South Africa will need to improve before the upcoming Champions Trophy.
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