Pakistan may have won the match and levelled the series, but the seventh Momentum PinkDay ODI drew a full crowd to the Bidvest Wanderers Stadium.
Furthermore, R1 115 000 was raised for breast cancer awareness at the game.
Spectators dressed vibrantly and in pink, and the atmosphere was jubilant throughout the morning and afternoon on 30 January. Rain the night before and an unfavourable forecast for the day prompted Pakistan to send South Africa in to bat after winning the toss.
South Africa had never lost a pink one-day international prior to this and led the five-match series 2–1 before the game. Thus, expectations were high when the Proteas batsmen walked to the crease.
But excellent bowling from the Pakistan bowlers, especially from man-of-the-match Usman Shinwari (4/35), kept the hosts on the back foot throughout the innings.
Only one good partnership between Hashim Amla (59) and captain Faf du Plessis (57) gave the crowd some hope for a big score. But after their wickets fell, the batting line-up capitulated to 164 all-out in 41 overs.
The crowd was still hopeful of a second batting collapse of the day, on the part of the Pakistanis, but the visitors were solid in their shot selection and gave no wickets away during their innings. They reached the target with only two wickets down in 31.3 overs.
Despite ending an excellent pink day ODI record, the day served to raise funds for a good cause and proved a lot of fun regardless of the loss. The final and deciding one-day international in the series will be played at Newlands, Cape Town, on 30 January.
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