Durban [South Africa], : David Miller’s blitz and George Linde’s all-round display left Pakistan flabbergasted as South Africa moved 1-0 up in the three-match series with an 11-run victory in the first T20I in Durban on Tuesday night.
Miller blew Pakistan away with his swashbuckling 82 at a strike rate of 205.00. On the other hand, Linde made a swift cameo of 42 and haunt Pakistan with the ball too by returning with figures of 4/21.
While chasing 184, Pakistan lost its prized possession, Babar Azam, for a four-ball duck. With quick runs on demand, Saim Ayub came in to smack a couple of boundaries before returning to the dressing room with a 31 from 15 deliveries.
Wickets continued to fall while skipper Mohammad Rizwan held onto his end to take the chase deep. He kept rotating the strike to keep Pakistan in the mix.
He accelerated according to the demands of the situation and chose the 17th over to lay the foundation of their success. Shaheen Afridi set the tone with a four, and Rizwan topped it off with two consecutive sixes.
With 24 runs in the 17th over, Pakistan brought the equation down to 36 off 18. South Africa tipped the scale of balance in its favour, with George Linde claiming Shaheen and Irfan Khan’s wickets on successive deliveries.
With 31 needed in 11 balls, a special from Rizwan’s bat was Pakistan’s sole hope left in the game. He rose to the challenge and found the boundary rope thrice in the penultimate over to bring the equation down to 19 in the final over.
However, when stakes broke through the roof, Rizwan lost his composure against young Kwena Maphaka. The moment Rizwan’s trip to the dressing room was confirmed, South Africa’s victory was sealed.
Earlier in the match, after opting to bat, South Africa lost its top three batters in a whiff as Shaheen Afridi and Abrar Ahmed bowled in tandem. Pakistan appeared to be in full control before Miller took it upon himself to entertain the crowd.
With two overs left in the powerplay, skipper Mohammad Rizwan decided to rest Shaheen and Abrar and introduce Harif Rauf with Abbas Afridi to continue their dominance.
Miller prodded forward and creamed the ball away to the boundary with sublime timing on Rauf’s first delivery of the match. South Africa captain Heinrich Klaasen watched Miller’s class from the other end and decided to have a crack himself.
In the next over, Pakistan was left in a state of shock by Klaasen’s nonchalance as he hung back to dunk the ball over the square leg ropes. Miller had a sniff of blood, and his appetite increased in the middle overs, irrespective of what took place at the other end.
Rauf overpitched his delivery to Miller and perished as the flamboyant southpaw carved it over the long-off ropes. Young Sufiyan Muqeem was next in line to face Miller’s wrath.
After enjoying success against Zimbabwe, Muqeem understood the difference in quality when Miller smoked it clean over square leg with a slog-sweep on just his second delivery of the match.
With a single six, Muqeem fluffed his line and pitched it straight into Miller’s slot to concede another maximum on his fourth delivery.
Considering the gravity of the situation, Rizwan brought Abrar back into the fray to contain the damage. Milled welcomed him back by effortlessly clearing the boundary rope on three successive deliveries.
Sixes continued to rain inside Kingsmead, with Miller toying with Pakistan pacers and offering catching practice to spectators in the stands.
Bowlers changed, but Miller’s attitude remained unaffected. The crowd was forced to stand up and applaud Miller’s class as he continued to be in a different zone.
Shaheen eventually got the breakthrough in the 14th over after Miller holed it to Irfan Khan. The crowd stood on its feet to hail Miller for his heroic 82 off a mere 40 deliveries, laced with four fours and a whopping eight maximums.
George Linde took the mantle from Miller to take South Africa to a respectable total. Muqeem continued to walk through a nightmare after Linde hit three consecutive maximums before losing his wicket. His quick-fire cameo of 48 propelled South Africa to 183/9.
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