South Africa register 8-wicket victory vs Pakistan in 2nd ODI:Quinton de Kock-de Zorzi stitch 153-run stand; 3-match series levelled at 1-1

In the second ODI played in Faisalabad, South Africa defeated Pakistan by 8 wickets. With the visitors’ latest win, the three-match ODI series is now levelled at 1-1. While batting first, Pakistan scored 269/9 in their innings. In response, the Proteas men’s team achieved the target in the 41st over with Quinton de Kock’s (123*) and Tony de Zorzi’s (76) crucial knocks. Pakistan had a poor start Opting to bat after winning the toss, the Pakistan team had a poor start. Nandre Burger, on his third ball, had Fakhar Zaman caught out (off the gloves) by de Kock. After this, Corbin Bosch trapped Babar Azam on the leg before the wicket (LBW) call. However, he survived on review, but Burger had Babar caught by Donovan Ferreira in the slips in the very next over. Also Read| Exclusive: Saina Nehwal all but confirms retirement, says ‘very happy with my career’ Just four deliveries later, Mohammad Rizwan was also bowled out. In the fifth over, Pakistan’s score was just 22 runs for three wickets. Nawaz takes charge of the attack After this, Saim Ayub and Salman Agha formed a partnership for the fourth wicket, but their strike rate stayed very low. Even after Ayub’s dismissal, the run rate did not increase. Finally, Mohammad Nawaz scored runs quickly. He hit sixes off both Fortune and Bosch and took Pakistan’s score past 250. 153-run partnership between De Kock and Tony de Zorzi While chasing a target of 270 runs, South Africa achieved the target by losing only two wickets. Openers Lhuan-dre Pretorius and de Kock added 81 runs for the first wicket. Pretorius batted aggressively, attacking Shaheen Shah Afridi and Mohammad Wasim, but was dismissed for 32 runs off 31 balls. Also Read| Sunil Chhetri puts full stop on international career: Says, ‘At 42, it’s not easy’ After this, de Kock, along with Tony de Zorzi, formed a strong partnership of 153 runs, completely shutting down Pakistan’s bowlers. De Kock led his team to victory with 59 balls remaining and remained unbeaten with 123* runs till the end. De Zorzi also scored a brilliant 85 runs. Captain Matthew Breetzke returned unbeaten with de Kock, scoring 18* runs.