On this day in 2021: Pakistan beat South Africa in a last-over thriller

Riding on Fakhar Zaman’s knock of 60 runs, the visitors Pakistan managed to beat South Africa by three wickets in the high stakes final match of the four-match T20I series on April 16, 2021. To note, the series was 2-1 in favour of Pakistan with the final match being played at the Supersport Park in Centurion.

Pakistan skipper Babar Azam after winning the toss invited the home side to have a bat first. The Proteas reached 73 for one after the early loss of Aiden Markram (11 off 5 balls). However, South Africa suffered a collapse in their batting with Janneman Malan (33 off 28 balls), skipper Heinrich Klaasen (9 off 12 balls), and George Linde (3 off 4 balls), getting out in quick succession.

Right-handed batter Rassie van der Dussen top-scored for South Africa with 52 off 36 balls. It is to be noted that apart from Dussen and two openers, none of the South African batters managed to cross the double-figure mark. As a result, South Africa was eventually bowled out for 144 on what is usually a high-scoring ground. For Pakistan, pacers Hasan Ali and Haris Rauf took three for 40 and two for 18 respectively.

In reply, Pakistan had the worst possible start with Mohammad Rizwan getting out for a duck. However, Babar (24 off 23 balls) and Fakhar Zaman (60 off 34 balls), helped Pakistan stay on track. The left-handed batter was doing some great damage with the bat, as he stroked five fours and four sixes during his innings.

However, South Africa made a strong comeback in the match taking seven wickets and giving away only 37 runs during the middle stages of the match. However, Mohammad Nawaz kept his composure in the end and managed to steer his side over the victory line on the second last ball of the match, and won the series by a margin of 3-1. Zaman was adjudged player of the match for his excellent batting antics.