The second ODI between South Africa and Pakistan was a cracker of a game, with Fakhar Zaman grabbing all the attention despite his team losing the contest by 17 runs. Fakhar played one of the best innings of his career at the Wanderers in Johannesburg on Sunday.
The left-handed batsman scored a fantabulous 193 from 155 deliveries, including 18 fours and 10 sixes before Proteas wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock ran him out in the final over.
Apart from Fakhar’s breathtaking knock and his controversial dismissal, another thing that captured the eyeballs was Pakistan all-rounder Faheem Ashraf‘s brutal delivery that broke South Africa captain Temba Bavuma‘s bat.
It all happened on the fourth ball of the 16th over when Bavuma played a defensive shot against Ashraf. But as the ball hit his bat, a tiny part from the back of the willow fell on the pitch. Though, the delivery was bowled only at 130kph (81 mph), still, it managed to break the batsman’s bat.
Here is the video:
Just wao
Faheem breaking bat of temba bavuma#PakvRSA pic.twitter.com/wxveHTnphX
— Haseeb ur rehman (Advocate)امپورٹڈ_حکومت_نامنظور# (@Haseebu67038988) April 4, 2021
The broken bat didn’t disturb the momentum of Bavuma as he went on to score 92 off 102 balls and propelled the home side to 341/6 in their allotted 50 overs. He was well supported by De Kock (80), Rassie van der Dussen (60) and David Miller (50), who smashed respective half-centuries. In reply, Pakistan only managed to reach 324/9, losing the game by 17 runs.
After the match, Bavuma heaped praises on Fakhar for playing an unbelievable inning. He admitted that the hosts were not expecting the attacking batting displayed by the Pakistani opener.
“Fakhar Zaman played an extraordinary inning, but fortunately, we managed to hang on. Credit to him, though. We have some areas to improve on and need to work on it. I wasn’t expecting this kind of onslaught from him,” said Bavuma at the post-match chat.
