After a landmark series win away to South Africa, Pakistan captain Mohammed Rizwan praised young opener Saim Ayub for his performance, saying the team has “trust and faith” in his talent. Ayub was one of Pakistan’s leading stars, scoring two brilliant centuries, including one in the third ODI, as he completed his first-ever series clean sheet in South Africa after winning the third and final ODI in Johannesburg on Monday.
Speaking during the post-match presentation, Rizwan said: “It is always a matter of pride (to win a series). The country expects these things from us. We are happy. The whole team put in an effort. Everyone performed in the second ODI. It was a perfect team game. It’s not easy to play away from your country. The guys trusted each other (About Saim Ayub). I don’t want to praise him anymore. We trust him and believe in his talent.”
Ayub has become the leading run-scorer of the Pakistan series with 235 runs in three matches at an average of 78.33, with a strike rate of over 96 and a best score of 109. In nine ODIs so far, Ayub has scored 515 runs at an average of 64.37 and a strike rate 105.53, three centuries and a fifty and a best score of 113*.
South Africa won the toss and elected to field first. After Abdullah Shafiq’s fall for a duck, a stand of 115 between Ayub (101 off 94 balls, with 13 fours and two sixes) and Babar Azam (52 off 71 balls, with seven fours) and a stand of 93 for the third wicket between Ayub and Rizwan (53 off 52 balls, with five fours and a six) led an event that saw Pakistan reach a challenging total of 308/9 in 50 overs.
Kagiso Rabada (3/56 in 10 overs) was the Proteas’ best bowler. Marco Jansen and Bjorn Fortuin also got two wickets each.
In response, Proteas lost wickets regularly. Heinrich Klaasen (81 off 43 balls, with 12 fours and two sixes) was again the lone warrior with his third fifty in a row, as were Temba Bavuma (8), Tony de Zorzi (26 off 23 balls, with two fours and two sixes), Aiden Markram (19 off 26 balls, with three fours), Rassie Van Der Dussen (35 off 52 balls, with four boundaries and six) and David Miller (3) was unable to support him with enough runs. Corbin Bose (40* off 44 balls with five fours) was left stranded as the Proteas were bowled out at 271/10 in 42 overs.
Spinner Sufiyan Muqim (4/52) was Pakistan’s best bowler while Naseem Shah and Shaheen Shah Afridi also got two wickets each.
Ayub received the Man of the Match and Man of the Series awards.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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