Patient start paid off for Proteas, says captain Bavuma

The Proteas want to play an aggressive brand of cricket, but perhaps the most impressive part of their series-levelling win over Pakistan in the second ODI at the Wanderers on Sunday was the way they brought a degree of watchfulness at the start of their innings when batting was a particularly difficult task.

South Africa were sent in to bat on a cool morning with a healthy covering of cloud, and there was a surfeit of movement on offer for the bowlers.

To eventually score 341 for six was a top-class effort and it was thanks to the composure and application shown by captain Temba Bavuma (92) and Quinton de Kock (80) as they added 114 for the second wicket in 20.4 overs.

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“When I came in, we were still in the powerplay and it was quite hard for any kind of strokeplay, so I just tried to get a partnership going with Quinny,” Bavuma said after the 17-run win.

“I just wanted to spend time at the crease with the belief that it would get easier. I’m not sure it got much easier, but we did get more accustomed to the pitch.

“We are trying to be aggressive, but sometimes you also have to earn the opportunity to do that.”

As impressive as South Africa’s batting display was, their thunder was stolen by Fakhar Zaman.

The left-handed opener lashed an extraordinary 193 off 155 balls, his last 93 runs coming in 48 deliveries as he finished with 18 fours and 10 sixes.

Fakhar Zaman contributed a magnificent century in Pakistan’s innings. Picture: Gallo Images

It was the highest ever score in an ODI chase, Zaman also going past Herschelle Gibbs’ famous 175 in the 438 game as the biggest individual score at the Wanderers, as well as making the highest ODI score on South African soil.

“It was a good thing that we fought to the end,” Fakhar said.

“At the start the pitch was not that good for batting but there was one short boundary so I just tried to target that. That’s my game – just hitting the ball.

“I was looking for a partnership but it was not in my hands that there wasn’t one.

“I enjoyed it very much, although I can’t say it is my best innings because we did not win.”

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