• Mohammed Nawaz hit two sixes in the final over to turn the match in Pakistan's favour.

  • Pakistan seal the four-match T20I series against South Africa 3-1.

Twitter Reactions: Mohammed Nawaz guides Pakistan to victory in a nail-biting clash against South Africa
Pakistan seal the T20 series against South Africa 3-1 (Pic Source: Twitter)

On Friday, Pakistan edged past South Africa in a close encounter at the SuperSport Park Stadium in Centurion and won by three wickets.

Batting first, South Africa lost their opener Aiden Markram within 16 runs on the board. In came Russie van der Dussen who walked shoulder to shoulder with Janneman Malan to put up a partnership of 57 runs at a run rate of around 9.

Faheem Ashraf, the right-arm pacer, provided the much-needed breakthroughs by taking wickets in quick succession. The hosts were eventually bundled out for 144 in 19.3 overs.

In response, the Pakistan opener Mohammad Rizwan was stumped for a knot. Still, the partnership of the two Pakistani star batsmen, Fakhar Zaman (60) and Bazar Azam (24), looked to guarantee a smooth sail for the visitors. The two new dependables of the visitors’ side shared a stand of 91 runs for the second wicket and scored around a run rate of 10 in the first nine overs.

However, the one-sided match suddenly looked poised and could have gone either way when Pakistan gave away their wickets for trifles and were six down in the next five overs. This resulted in additional pressure on the Pakistani batsmen as they now had to score run-a-ball 29 to surpass South Africa’s target.

The match came as close as Pakistan needing 16 runs off the last two overs with two lower-order batsmen Faheem Ashraf and Mohammed Nawaz, at the crease.

The shortest format of the game is all about surprises. The tides turned again when the Proteas pacer Sisanda Magala took the wicket of Ashraf (7) and also bowled four consecutive dot balls. Now, the target seemed improbable for Pakistan as they had to make 16 runs off eight balls.

The last over became the talk of the town when Magala, after putting pressure on the batsmen, bowled three consecutive no-balls and was also smashed for a six by Nawaz. Thus, Magala, who could have been the South-African hero, eventually gave away the game by conceding ten runs.

Now, the match was an easy glide for Pakistan as they crossed the finish line with the lower-order heroics of Nawaz, who smoked the ball for another six in the final over.

Here is how Twitter reacted:

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