CENTURION: Reeza Hendricks scored a blistering century and powered South Africa to a seven-wicket victory over Pakistan in the second T20I of the three-match series against Pakistan here at the SuperSport Park on Friday.p>
Set to chase 207, the home side knocked the winning runs through Rassie van der Dussen, who smashed a six off Abbas Afridi on the third delivery of the final over.
The hosts, however, had a shaky start to their innings as left-arm pacer Jahandad Khan dismissed Ryan Rickelton (two) and Matthew Breetzke (12) in his successive overs, reducing them to 28/2 in four overs.p>Following the early blow, Rassie van der Dussen joined hands with Reeza Hendricks and together they raised a match-defining 157-run partnership for the third wicket.p>
The marathon stand eventually culminated in the 18th over when Abbas Afridi got rid of Hendricks.p>
The right-handed opener remained the top-scorer for the home side with 117 off 63 deliveries, hitting seven boundaries and 10 sixes.
For his match-winning knock, Hendricks was adjudged the player of the match.p>
Rassie van der Dussen then put together an unbeaten 25-run partnership with skipper Heinrich Klaasen (eight not out) and steered his side to a series-clinching victory.
He smashed three fours and five sixes on his way to an unbeaten 66 off 38 deliveries.p>For Pakistan, Jahandad bagged two wickets, while Abbas struck once.p>
Opting to bat first, the green shirts accumulated 206/5 in the allotted 20 overs, thanks to an unbeaten blistering knock by Saim Ayub.p>
The touring side, however, got off to a shaky start to their innings as their white-ball captain Mohammad Rizwan (11) fell victim to Ottneil Baartman in the fourth over with just 16 runs on the board.p>Following the early hiccup, star batter Babar Azam joined hands with Saim and put Pakistan in command with an important partnership.p>
The duo added 87 runs for the second wicket off just 45 balls until Babar was dismissed by George Linde in the 12th over.p>
The right-handed batter made significant contribution with his 20-ball 31, laced with three fours and a six.p>
Pakistan then lost two more wickets in quick succession as Usman Khan (three) and Tayyab Tahir (six) perished cheaply, bringing the total down to 122/4 in 14.1 overs.p>
Saim was then involved in yet another crucial partnership for Pakistan when he added 73 runs for the fifth wicket with middle-order batter Muhammad Irfan Khan, who played a handy 30-run cameo from just 16 deliveries.p>
Irfan’s dismissal in the final over paved the way for Abbas Afridi, who added valuable runs at the death with a four-ball 11, while Saim remained stranded on 98 not out.p>
Saim Ayub top-scored for Pakistan with a 57-ball 98, which featured 11 fours and five sixes.p>
Dayyaan Galiem and Baartman bagged two wickets each for South Africa, while Linde chipped in with a wicket.p>
The seven-wicket victory helped South Africa clinch the three-match series 2-0 with a game to spare.