BOLAND PARK – Pakistan drew the first blood in the three-match ODI series against South Africa after winning the first match by 3 wickets at Boland Park, Paarl last night.
Heinrich Klaasen top scored 86 off 97 balls for the home side after taking the Proteas to 239 after 50 overs in their innings having won the toss and choosing to bat first.
Tony de Zorzi (33) and Ryan Rickelton (36) opened well, taking Proteas to a comfortable position at the end of the first powerplay.
However, de Zorzi was lbw by Salman Agha while Rickelton became a victim of the same man.
Four wickets from Agha and later with the bat Saim Ayub (109 off 119) and Agha (82 off 90) gave Pakistan something to brag about leaving Paarl going to Newlands on Thursday.
He also gave credit to his bowlers despite coming short on the day.
“I’ve never seen a ball reverse like that in 20 overs. Balls are only 25 overs old in a one-day game, so in 20 overs, that ball was shaping like a four-day game in quite proper heat,” said Klaasen.
“We bowled well, and let’s call it the last hour and a half of the game just slipped a little bit out of our control. So that’s not sitting well with the boys but chemistry in the team is always brilliant.
“I think we stuck to it very nicely in the power play. I think we were 28-1 after the power play. So for a long period of time, just the top of the wicket was slow.
“At the end of the game, it just sped up a little bit, so the wicket got a lot better.
“And then we actually went to a nice short ball plan that worked for us well. So the plans are quite normal.”
Image: @ProteasMenCSA/ Twitter.
