Pakistan holds on for tight win over South Africa

E-Paper | July 25, 2026

CAPE TOWN: Pakistan held on for a close six-run win in the second Twenty20 on Friday to end a six-game losing streak to South Africa in limited-overs games.

Shahid Afridi’s 3-28 backed up earlier half-centuries by Umar Akmal and captain Mohammad Hafeez as Pakistan successfully defended its 176-4 at Newlands to draw the series 1-1. Akmal made 64 and Hafeez 63 in a match-winning 102-run stand off just 55 balls after Pakistan opted to bat first and made it count.

Hashim Amla replied with 48 opening South Africa’s chase, but legspinner Afridi accounted for Quinton de Kock (26), Faf du Plessis and AB de Villiers to have the hosts 87-3.

After Amla was out just short of his half-century, JP Duminy (47 not out) and David Miller were held at bay by good death bowling by Sohail Tanvir to give Pakistan a long-awaited win. South Africa finished on 170-4.

The teams begin their three-game ODI series at the same ground on Sunday.

"We have been working hard," said Hafeez, who was named man of the match and man of the series. "We knew we had to win this game to stay positive for the rest of the series."

Akmal and Hafeez combined for their century stand to lift Pakistan from a slow start at 44-2. Akmal had five fours and four towering sixes in his explosive 64 off 37 balls in Pakistan’s only significant partnership. Hafeez hit five fours and three sixes for his 63 off 41 balls before he was out in the 17th over to Dale Steyn (2-29).

Akmal fell to Steyn in the last over but the damage was already done, giving the home team a tough target to chase down under lights.

Amla began brightly, stroking five fours while opening partner De Kock hit four boundaries in his 26.

Spinner Afridi changed the game, though, having De Kock and captain Du Plessis caught in the deep and then bowling De Villiers with a quicker, flatter delivery. Amla fell to Pakistan’s other spinner, Saeed Ajmal, leaving Duminy and Miller with 60 runs to get in only 27 balls.

Their unbroken 53-run stand brought South Africa close, but Tanvir held his nerve in the final over to concede just six runs off the first five deliveries, clinching just a second win for Pakistan in nine limited-overs games against the South Africans.

Teams: South Africa: Faf du Plessis (captain), Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock (wkt), AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, David Miller, David Wiese, Wayne Parnell, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Aaron Phangiso.

Pakistan: Mohammad Hafeez (captain), Nasir Jamshed, Ahmed Shehzad, Sohaib Maqsood, Umar Amin, Umar Akmal (wkt), Shahid Afridi, Bilawal Bhatti, Sohail Tanvir, Saeed Ajmal, Junaid Khan.

Umpires: Johan Cloete, Shaun George (both RSA)

TV umpire: Karl Hurter (RSA)

Match referee: Andy Pycroft (ZIM)

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Dr. Salaria, Aamir Ahmad

Nov 23, 2013 12:21am

Good job but are they going to sustain it in future? I don't think so.

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Amal

Nov 23, 2013 01:21am

This is the problem with all pakistani fans. Keep complaining !! Pls look at the records of all the old horses in the pakistani team. Mishbah is the top pakistani batsman in ODI and ranked No. 9. Hafeez is No. 1 ODI all rounder and No.2 Twenty20 all rounder. Afridi is No.7 ODI all rounder and No. 5 Twenty20 all rounder. These so called old horses are the ones who are really giving some semblance of international quality to the Pakistani team. Where are the so called youngsters ? where is their performance ? stop complaining and support your heroes like India supportd Sachin and its other cricketing heroes.

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ali

Nov 23, 2013 02:21am

If the batsmen bat then the bowlers can do a good job, but if the batsmen fail to score then do not expect the bowlers to keep on winning matches all the time, the batsmen have to keep on playing their part.

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fida sayani

Nov 23, 2013 03:38am

if you win after five plus loses than the win is called fluke.

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ABK

Nov 23, 2013 04:34am

Today the stump mics were unusually loud i picked up few interesting things 1. Umar Akmal called Nasir Jamshed: BHOLAYYY :). 2. Umar Akmal to Shahid Afridi (when he was swinging and missing) Lala Tension Nahi laini, Shahid Afridi : Nahi..laini hai. (he scored a single and said to Umar Akmal : abb tu lay tension :) 3. Umar Akmal to a fielder who didnt throw the ball at stumps in early overs " yar phaiko, ball to purana karo (very intelligent). 4. Umar Akmal to Shahid Afridi: Lala seedha bowler hai Seedha maro. 5. Umar Akmal talks in Punjabi with Saeed Ajmal. 6. The complete conversation revealed that there seemed to be no problem with the attitude of the players who were quite positive, backing each other specially Umar Akmal who was constantly giving valuable advice to every one. Well done team Pakistan, keep doing well. 6.

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zem

Nov 23, 2013 04:39am

Look New Faces(Maqsud,Billal) performances,This is a msg for selectrs.If selectrs pick up one/two new players Sharjeel khan,Haris Sohail and H.azam pak team will much much more Balance .Insaallah Pak wil btr performance in WC2015.

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Aleem Latif

Nov 23, 2013 05:04am

excellent team performance. Bhatti is a great find for Pak squad. Other paki pace bowlers need to learn from Bhatti how to do variations in your bowling. Juniad khan needs to be rested for some time to get his form. We also need Gul back asap. Good fearless display all together, which has been missing in previous matches.

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Saeed Masood

Nov 23, 2013 07:32am

Alas...the Myth has ended...I very sincerely hope and pray that the nightmare of defeat has ended and new sun of victories will shine....The Pakistan players have completely lost the art of winning the match...Please start believing that you are a good team and you can win.

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Anila

Nov 23, 2013 08:04am

I would like make a bit different comment. Pakistan must consider these patterns (1) Pakistani bowlers could never collect cleanly whenever a throw is thrown by a fielder towards bowling crease. (2) Pakistan fielder (baring Misbah and Younis) can nevr hit stumps unless it is pure luck. (3) Junaid Khan has never proved to be a good T20 bowler (4) Pakistan once used to score fast in the first 6 overs, but not any more. (5) Pakistani fast bowlers bowlers repeatedly bowl short (not bouncer) with Width allowing cut and pull. Specially Sohail Tanveer needs to check his length. (6) No words for Afridi, only God can make a difference here.

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Saeed

Nov 23, 2013 08:11am

Great Job Pakistan, keep it up, looking forward to one day series.

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Effy

Nov 23, 2013 09:54am

Why is Hafeez treating Sohaib Maqsood so badly ?

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Nasim Khan

Nov 23, 2013 10:35am

Well done, at least they won any match, nice to see bhatti bowling so well once again, hafiz and akmal played very nicely, but afridi tried his best to spoil the momentum of the pakistan inning, although he did bowl brilliantly

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Que

Nov 23, 2013 11:37am

Afridi is the man!!!!!

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shan

Nov 23, 2013 12:42pm

Aaron Phangiso was the man of the match not hafeez.

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Googlie

Nov 23, 2013 12:56pm

For the improvement of cricket in Pakistan, the current PCB Chairman and selectors need to be replaced ASAP. Batting coach is the need of the hour! Some one needs to tell NJ not to play fast bowlers on the back foot and how to use body adjustments and the use of foot movement. Why Hafeez is afraid of Saeed Ajmal? Why T20 no. 1 bowler was kept out of the team for first T20?

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Rogers Evans

Nov 23, 2013 01:55pm

Well done Pakistan Team, especially Afridi. Had he not taken those big three wickets of SA, things would have been different. Critics will always find some thing against him even if he alone wins the match.

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FEROZ BOOR BOOR

Nov 23, 2013 02:06pm

pakistan is doing well with bowling, just has to improve the batting, specially the middle order batsman needs much improvment.If pakistan has strong batting line up, no doubt they are among the best teams.

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Taimur Malik

Nov 23, 2013 02:00pm

Steyn is great bowler and his aggression I love it, only the fast bowler can understand the aggression he shows in game... the shot of the day was Ahmed Shahzad SIX TO STEYN, and Umer Akmal SIX to Morkel... Well played Paksitan, this is Champ Pak performance they are known for. bad luck for Afridi he needs to go in nets and atleast touch the ball to bat. the downside for Paksitan was Hafeez again getting out to Steyn, poor premeditated shot, he could have done better against Styn if hadnt hurried into the shot first ball of the over. All in all good performance by Pakistan, Now Pak need to take this performance into one day games....momentum is with them!!! Wish them Good Luck!!!!

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Effy

Nov 23, 2013 04:28pm

A few changes for Sri Lanka T20 and One day series, Drop Misbah, Afridi, Jamshed, Amin, Shafiq, Junaid. Bring in Sharjeel Khan, Harris Sohail, A. Talha, Hammad Azam, Raza Hasan. No place for Malik and Razzaq as well.

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Prabir

Nov 23, 2013 04:46pm

Whenever Afridi plays well, Pakistan wins. But does it mean one should continue with Afridi ?? In his 300 plus ODIs/twenty20, this winning number may not be more than 10. Is he not the luckiest cricket player ever born ?? Whenever you feel like enough is enough, Afridi will come out with flying colours. When batting gets collapsed he will excel in bowling. Rest assured for next 3 ODIs in SA, he will come as a cropper. Whatever you think, his place is now reserved for say another 20 matches. Selectors will not see his non-performance in these 20 matches. ''Faanus banke jiski hifazat hawaa kare, Woh shamaa kya bujhe jise Roshan KHUDA kare.''

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sschauhan

Nov 23, 2013 07:06pm

Such matches keep interest in cricket. Winning of pakistan is important to bring cricket back in Pak.it is good for world cricket too.before it becomes too late like windies.

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Mudassar Siddiq

Nov 23, 2013 08:21pm

VERY HAPPY to see the positivity in the team and hence the results. But VERY SAD that Misbah is going to come back and will bring back all the negative energy again.

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Sarah

Nov 23, 2013 10:03pm

@Effy: You can be assured of total:0 with team you have chosen unless you betting against Pakistan team

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SLIDER

Nov 23, 2013 10:42pm

@Googlie: This time Nasir Jamsheed lost his wicket to the spinner.

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Nadeem Mirza

Nov 24, 2013 02:58am

Congrats! Great encounter and win! Umar and Hafeez with the bat and quick wickets from Awesome Afrid made the difference. Hoping and praying for their good performance in ODI as well. Great move to send Umar up the order. He should also bat at number 3 or 4 in ODI. Umar Akmal should also be tried as Wicket keeper batsman in TEST since brother Adnan is not the greatest batsman.

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Fazal

Nov 24, 2013 06:16am

Please send Shahid Afridi to academy to practice four boundary shots touching ground through out. And also strictly tell him not to try sixes.

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Dr. Salaria, Aamir Ahmad

Nov 25, 2013 02:03pm

Congratulations to the green-shirts. In the end, it was the "new blood" which made the difference and was able to win for their team.

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