South Africa 194 for 9 (Hendricks 60, Linde 36, Nawaz 3-26) beat Pakistan 139 (Ayub 37, Nawaz 36, Bosch 4-14, Linde 3-31) by 55 runs
A South African side missing its frontline stars walked into Rawalpindi and walked out 1-0 up, after handing Pakistan a chastening 55-run defeat that felt heavier than the margin. Reeza Hendricks framed the night with a polished half-century at the top, South Africa’s first three batters built the platform with clean striking on a true surface, and a late surge took the visitors to 194 — a total that proved far beyond Pakistan’s appetite or composure.
Hendricks, Quinton de Kock and Tony de Zorzi — a short-term, stop-gap top order on paper — tore through the powerplay. Hendricks launched Naseem Shah into the stands in the second over, and de Kock followed with his own burst. By the seventh over South Africa had 89; that alone already looked decisive once Pakistan began to combust. De Kock miscued, but de Zorzi flicked straight into overdrive, and Linde’s late 36 off 22 meant the innings never fully stagnated after its mid-overs lull.
Pakistan’s chase never breathed. Corbin Bosch, who tormented them in Tests late last year before antagonising PSL administrators by ditching his contract for the IPL, returned to Rawalpindi like a man intent on completing the circle. Babar Azam, playing his first T20I since December 2024, lasted two balls — beaten for pace, timing, and perhaps conviction. Bosch struck again and again as the asking rate swelled, and Linde paired him with 3-31 of his own as the hosts unraveled long before the 20th over.
It was another grim day for Pakistan’s marquee names. Babar contributed nothing with bat or in the field; captain Salman Agha burned deliveries while pressure mounted and then burned a review to confirm he was plumb. Only Mohammad Nawaz emerged with any credit, first applying the handbrake in the middle overs with 3-26 — removing Hendricks, Brevis and Ferreira — and then top-scoring with a late 36 that mirrored Linde’s contribution, though by then the game was gone and the stands half-empty.
The only shared thread between the sides was the supremacy of their left-arm finger-spinners. Everything else — intent, sharpness, nerve — belonged to a South African second string that looked, on the night, like a first choice in everything but name.
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