1st T20: SA beats Pakistan by 9 wickets

DUBAI: South Africa has defeated Pakistan in first T20 after a one-sided competition with 9 wickets at Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Wednesday, ARY News reported.

Mohammad Hafeez after winning the toss decided to bat first on a surface that was expected to have some good bounce and carry but will remain good for batting throughout.

The behavior of the pitch was same as it was predicted and Pakistan didn’t able to tackle the pacers of the opponents. Batsmen remained clueless against Dale Steyn, and wasn’t able to handle the short balls apart from Umar Akmal, who scored 49 runs no batsman survived for too long.

Pakistan set the target of 99 runs for Proteas.

Steyn got 3 wickets conceding 15 runs in his 4 overs while Imran Tahir and Lonwabo Tsotsobe took 2 wickets each.

South Africa’s reply was terrific, chased the target in 14.3 overs with the loss of only one wicket.

Quinton de Kock and captain Faf du Plessis outclassed the Pakistan’s attack and with only 98 runs on the board, the bowlers can’t be blamed on the pitch.

Kock scored 48 runs while Du Plessis played a crucial inning of 37 runs.

South Africa has got the lead of 1-0 in the two matches T20 series.