1st ODI: Agha-Rizwan's fifty propel Pakistan to 2-wicket victory over South Africa

Faisalabad [Pakistan], November 5 (ANI): Brilliant half-centuries from Pakistan batters Salman Agha and Mohammad Rizwan guided the hosts to a two-wicket win against South Africa in the first ODI of the three-match series, which was being played at the Iqbal Stadium here on Tuesday.

Agha scored 62 runs off 71 balls, which was laced with five boundaries and one maximum, whereas Rizwan played a 55-run knock from 74 balls, coming with the help of six fours in his innings.

With this victory in the first match of the series, the Pakistan Cricket Team take a 1-0 lead over South Africa in the three-match ODI series. The second match of the series will be played at the same venue, Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad, on Thursday, November 6.

Chasing a target of 264 against the Proteas in the season opener, the Men in Green finished the game in 49.4 overs with two wickets in hand. Other than Agha and Rizwan, the players who registered their names among the runs were Fakhar Zaman (45 runs off 57 balls), Saim Ayub (39 runs from 42 balls), and Hussain Talat (22 runs in 25 balls).

For the visitors, two wickets each were scalped by Lungi Ngidi (2/46 in 9 overs), Donovan Ferreira (2/53 in 9 overs), Corbin Bosch (2/32 in 6.4 overs), and one wicket each was bagged by George Linde (1/49 in 8 overs) and Bjorn Fortuin (1/38 in 10 overs) in their respective bowling spells.

Earlier in the first innings, batting first, the visitors managed to score 263 runs as the Shaheen Shah Afridi-led side bowled them out in the final over of the innings.

The top run-getters for the South African team were wicketkeeper-batter Quinton de Kock (63 runs off 71 balls), opener Lhuan-dre Pretorious (57 runs from 60 balls), team captain Breetzke (42 runs in 54 balls), and all-rounder Corbin Bosch (41 runs off 40 balls).

For the Pakistan team, three wickets each were snapped by Naseem Shah (3/40 in 9.1 overs) and Abrar Ahmed (3/53 in 9 overs), whereas two wickets were taken by Saim Ayub (2/39 in 8 overs). Also, one wicket each was grabbed by Shaheen Afridi (1/55 in 10 overs) and Mohammad Nawaz (1/45 in 10 overs) in their respective spells in the game.

Brief Scores: South Africa 263 all out in 49.1 overs (Quinton de Kock 63, Lhuan-dre Pretorious 87; Naseem Shah 3/40) vs Pakistan 264/8 in 49.4 overs (Salman Agha 62, Mohammad Rizwan 55; Corbin Bosch 2/32). (ANI)

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