Pakistan vs South Africa | South Africa tour of Pakistan, 2025 | 3rd ODI

Shaheen Afridi collects the trophy and joins his teammates. They all pose for the cameras. The Test was a draw. However, the home team won the T20Is and ODIs 2-1 against South Africa. Shaheen Afridi begins his ODI captaincy tenure with a big series win. So, that is all from this game. Hope you all enjoyed the coverage. Goodbye and cheers for now.

Shaheen Afridi, the skipper of Pakistan says it is a team work, they have worked hard and all the credit goes to them. Shares that according to the conditions, they were happy to bowl, the spinners controlled and bowled really well. Tells that the players were waiting for their opportunities in this series. Overall they have played good cricket.

Captain of South Africa, Matthew Breetzke says that 250 was a good score but they lost too many wickets. Shares that Abrar Ahmed bowled really well. They tried to play straight as possible but Pakistan were too good today. Tells that they will take a lot of learnings from this series. On Lhuan-dre Pretorius, he has been special on top of the order, his aggression has been vital. Ends by saying he has learned a lot as skipper as well.

Quinton de Kock, PLAYER OF THE SERIES. He is disappointed not to win but reckons it was hard to bat on this surface. Mentions they learned a lot on this pitches which were difficult to play on. Shares that the players will take a lot of learning from this series and think about it going forward.

Abrar Ahmed wins the PLAYER OF THE MATCH AWARD. He says he read the conditions and learnt a lot from the last match. Tells that he focuses on his job, not if he is in the playing XI or not. Reckons that he is happy with his performance and tries to do his best in must win games.

...Presentation...

Earlier in the game, it was a dominant bowling performance by Pakistan that saw them bundle out South Africa for a mere 143 runs. Despite a solid 72-run opening stand between Quinton de Kock and Lhuan-dre Pretorius, the Pakistani spinners, led by Abrar Ahmed (4/27), triggered a massive collapse. Salman Agha struck two quick blows to open the floodgates, and then Abrar ran through the middle order, with South Africa losing wickets in clusters. Skipper Shaheen Afridi then sealed the demolition with two wickets in two balls, giving him figures of 2/17, while Mohammad Nawaz and Salman Agha also chipped in with two wickets each.

Apart from Lhuan-dre Pretorius and Quinton de Kock, the others added just 48 runs to the total and that tells you the story. In a must win game, the inexperienced Proteas line up crumbled with the most proeficient knock coming from Lhuan-dre Pretorius and Quinton de Kock. Once they fell, it was a procession against come quality spinners on a rank turner. In reply, needing a modest total, Pakistan needed one man to step up and Saim Ayub came to the party with his fine half-century. His innings along with Mohammad Rizwan's 32 not out was enough to win the series.

Well, the game was set up by the Pakistani bowlers. They ripped through the Proteas line-up. Abrar Ahmed particularly, who grabbed four wickets to register his career-best figures of 4/27. The others played their part. Shaheen Afridi was reluctant to bring in Abrar Ahmed against the left-handed openers but once they departed, Ahmed came in and dismantled the South Africa batting group, breaking their back single-handedly. Agha and Nawaz too played their part while the skipper cleaned up the tail with ease.

Mohammad Rizwan drops his bat in triumph as Pakistan win a bilateral ODI series against South Africa in their home soil for the first time.