SA vs PAK, 1st T20I: George Linde's match-winning all-round performance helped South Africa defeat Pakistan by 11 runs in the series opener in Durban. Returning to the national side after three years, Linde scored a gritty knock of 48 runs off 24 balls and then registered figures of 21/4. He was also adjudged as the Player of the Match award although he did fall short of a well-deserved hat trick during the 19th over due to an unsuccessful review.
The visitors had a shaky start despite Mohammed Rizwan's shaky start. The skipper, who was earlier seen struggling after scoring 36 runs off 44 balls, bounced back by scoring a knock of 74 runs off 62 balls. His efforts went in vain as Pakistan's middle order failed to fire due to their inexperience.
The Proteas are playing this series with a second-string team, where David Miller played the role of a lone warrior as he scored a brilliant knock of 82 runs off 40 balls. He came into bat at no.4 position after the team suffered a batting collapse but went all-guns-blazing against Pakistan bowlers with brilliant stroke play. He took bowlers like Sufiyan Suqeem and Abrar Ahmed to the cleaners as he had smashed three consecutive sixes in Abrar's over. Miller's batting prowess helped the hosts reach 163 runs despite them suffering a lower-order batting collapse.
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Saim Ayub gave Pakistan the much-needed start but after Babar Azam got out for a duck and brilliant middle overs bowled by the South African bowlers, changed the match in South Africa's favor. Linde and the other bowlers rattled Pakistan's batting lineup as they took wickets at regular intervals and thus left them with needing 19 runs to win in the last over. Although 24 runs were scored during the 17th over, the hosts held their nerve as Kwena Mphaka helped them bounce back in the 20th over by taking Rizwan's wicket and helped the team win the match.
South Africa's brilliant tactics like batting first on a batters-friendly pitch worked in their favour. Linde's all-round match-winning performance and Miller's brilliant knock showed South Africa's batting depth although many senior players are not a part of this series. At the same time, the Men in Green struggled with the ball during the death overs, and inconsistency during the middle overs played a huge role in them losing the match and they will have to work a lot on their weaknesses before the second T20I.
The second T20I between these teams will be held on Friday, December 13.