Ongama Gcwabe
South Africa: 183/9
David Miller 82, George Linde 48; Shaheen Shah Afridi 3/22
Pakistan: 172/8
Mohamad Rizwab 74, Saim Ayub 31; George Linde 4/21
South Africa won by 11 runs
South Africa beat Pakistan in a nail-biting first T20I match at Kingsmead on Tuesday night and took a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
A sparkling all-round performance from George Linde, including a 24-ball 48 with bat in hand and an incredible 4/21 with the ball by the slow left-arm orthodox, made a statement of intent on his return to international cricket.
Having been left out of the national side for three years, Linde earned his first call-up following a sizzling domestic T20 Challenge campaign with Western Province and grabbed his opportunity with both hands, as he successfully transferred his domestic form onto international stage in Durban.
Youngsters, including fast bowlers Kwena Maphaka (2/39) and Andile Simelane (1/44), alongside leg-spinner Nqaba Peter (0/29), completed a decent bowling effort from the hosts as they reduced the visitors to 172/8 in their allotted 20 overs.
Seamer Ottneil Baartman, having sat on the sidelines in last month’s four-match series against world champions India, put on a proper shift for South Africa as he returned figures of 1/26 in his four overs and denied a defiant Pakistan captain Mohamad Rizwan’s efforts to take the game to the wire.
Earlier, Miller treated his home crowd with a special knock, one that certainly got South Africa out of trouble early on in the match.
Miller, coming in at No 4, stepped up in the absence of captain Aiden Markram, who along with the likes of Kagiso Rabada, has been rested for the ongoing T20I series after completing an important Test series victory over Sri Lanka earlier this week.
The left-handed batter walked in to bat with the score on 10/2 inside the opening two overs and it got worse in the fourth over as the hosts found themselves on 28/3. Despite all the scoreboard pressure, Miller was timing the ball crisply under the lights, as he accessed the boundary seemingly with ease against the visiting bowling attack.
Whether it was the mystery spin of Abrar Ahmed (3/37) or the pace of Shaheen Shah Afridi (3/22), Miller was simply in sync in his 40-ball 82, a knock which saw the stalwart smash eight sixes and four boundaries to help South Africa get to 135 when he lost his wicket in the 14th over.
Apart from Miller, many loose shots from the top of the order led to wickets. Rassie van der Dussen dragged a wide full-length delivery onto his stump in the very first over, while Matthew Breetzke hit a shot delivery from Ahmed straight to the point fielder to leave the hosts in trouble.
However, Linde made sure that Miller's knock did not go in vain. He batted beautifully with the tail to guide South Africa to an above-average total of 183/9.