Abrar Ahmed and Saim Ayub led Pakistan to a convincing seven-wicket win over South Africa in the third One-Day International at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad on Saturday, sealing the three-match series 2–1.
Set a modest target of 144, Pakistan reached 144 for three in 25.1 overs. Saim Ayub anchored the chase with a fluent 77 off 70 balls, striking eleven fours and one six. Mohammad Rizwan added an unbeaten 32, while Agha Salman finished the match with a boundary, remaining on five not out.
Earlier, South Africa were bowled out for 143 in 37.5 overs after electing to bat first. Quinton de Kock top-scored with 53 from 70 deliveries, and Lhuan-dre Pretorius made 39. The rest of the batting line-up struggled against Pakistan’s disciplined attack.
Leg-spinner Abrar Ahmed proved decisive, taking four wickets for 27 runs in ten overs. Mohammad Nawaz took two for 31, while Shaheen Shah Afridi claimed two for 18. Agha Salman also contributed with two wickets for 18 runs.
After de Kock’s dismissal at 106 for three, South Africa collapsed rapidly, losing their last seven wickets for just 37 runs.
In reply, Pakistan suffered an early setback when Fakhar Zaman fell for a duck. Saim Ayub and Babar Azam then added 65 runs for the second wicket before Babar was run out for 27. Rizwan joined Ayub to put the result beyond doubt with a composed partnership of 65.
Nandre Burger, Bjorn Fortuin were the only wicket-takers for South Africa, but they failed to contain Pakistan’s scoring rate.
With this victory, Pakistan secured the ODI series 2–1, marking a strong finish to the home season. The match also saw South Africa’s Rubin Hermann make his ODI debut.
