Babar Azam’s century set up Pakistan’s three-wicket victory over South Africa in the first one-day international on Friday, although the tourists still needed to scramble a run off the final ball to win.
The Pakistan captain hit 103 off 104 balls and his team was cruising at 186-1 at SuperSport Park after South Africa scored 273-6 in its 50 overs.
Azam’s dismissal sparked a slump as Pakistan lost four wickets for 17 runs, all of them to fast bowler Anrich Nortje.
Still, Pakistan only needed three runs off the final over.
But Shadab Khan (33) fell to the first ball of that last over and South Africa seamer Andile Phehlukwayo bowled another three dot balls to heighten the tension.
Faheem Ashraf finally made contact off the fifth ball with a chip over the bowler’s head for two. He flicked the final ball of the game through the covers for a single to reach 274-7 and put Pakistan 1-0 up in the three-game series.
Azam’s was the game-winning innings. He was supported by 70 from opener Imam-ul-Haq and they shared a fabulous partnership of 177 for the second wicket after Pakistan was 9-1.
Nortje’s burst of four wickets threatened to undo the work of Azam and Imam as Pakistan slipped to 203-5.
Mohammad Rizwan led the recovery with his 40, and Shadab’s contribution at the end was also vital.
When Imam-ul-Haq was asked about Pakistan’s habit of making a contest exciting, he said – “we like to entertain people in times of Covid-19″ #SAvPAK #Cricket.”