Overview:
Pakistan persisted with the left-handed opener, who finally showed his brilliant power-hitting by smashing his fifth T20 half-century with five sixes and six boundaries.
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — Saim Ayub returned to form with a belligerent unbeaten 71 off 38 balls as Pakistan raced to 112-1 in just 13.1 overs after bowling out South Africa for 110. Fast bowlers Salman Mirza and Faheem Ashraf shared seven wickets.
Ayub goes berserk
Ayub had a horror Asia Cup, where he scored four ducks and struggled again on Tuesday when he was dismissed for zero before South Africa romped to a 55-run win.
But Pakistan persisted with the left-handed opener, who finally showed his brilliant power-hitting by smashing his fifth T20 half-century with five sixes and six boundaries. Ayub hit the winning runs with his last six off Ferreira over wide mid-on.
“Saim is someone who can play for the next 10 years and become the player we all want him to be,” Agha said.
Mirza and Faheem blow away the Proteas
Playing Mirza for the rested Shaheen Shah Afridi brought Pakistan immediate success as the left-armer deceived the South Africa top order with his variations.
Reeza Hendricks, who hit a half-century in the first match, was bowled for a two-ball duck by a Mirza delivery that nipped back in sharply.
Quinton de Kock was deceived by Naseem Shah’s slower ball, and he holed out to mid-off.
Mirza dropped a sitter from Matthew Breetzke at gully off Shah but made amends when he hit the top of Breetzke’s off stump with another slower ball.
Tony de Zorzi top-edged Mirza’s short ball to short fine leg, and South Africa slipped to 23-4 inside the powerplay and couldn’t recover. Mirza took 3-14, Ashraf mopped up with a career-best 4-23.
“There isn’t much time to reflect,” said Ferreira, leading the Proteas in the absence of the injured David Miller. “The wicket got a lot better with the dew settling. You just have to move on.”
