Zimbabwe News Update
aljazeera
2 min read
Babar Azam was dismissed for a duck in his comeback to T20 cricket as under-strength South Africa romped to 55-run win over Pakistan in the opener of a three-match series.Pakistan couldn’t recover from Corbin Bosch’s twin strike that included the wicket of Babar before South Africa bowled out the home team for 139 on Tuesday to the disappointment of 16,000 home fans at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.Recommended Storieslist of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Olympic ski season opening marred by dangerous course debatelist 2 of 4FIFA opens 2nd phase of World Cup ticket sales with slots for host nationslist 3 of 4Afghan women’s football team makes international return after four yearslist 4 of 4‘I would like to be there’: Lionel Messi on FIFA World Cup 2026end of listSouth Africa had earlier made 194-9 after captain Donovan Ferreira lost the toss and was asked to bat first.
Opening batter Reeza Hendricks scored 60 off 40 balls and George Linde added 36 off 22 balls.Babar, who last played a T20 in December 2024 against South Africa, lasted only two balls and offered a tame catch to Hendricks in the covers inside the powerplay.Pakistan had recalled Babar at No. 3 for the series after giving Fakhar Zaman rest to gear up for next month’s one-day international series against the Proteas.Babar was cheered loudly by the capacity crowd as he walked out to bat, needing nine runs to break Rohit Sharma’s all-time record of 4,231 runs in T20 internationals. But there was pin-drop silence in the stands as Babar couldn’t clear Hendricks in the covers and walked back.Pakistan’s chase never gained momentum after it lost two wickets inside the first six overs.
Saim Ayub should have been dismissed without scoring in Nandre Burger’s first over, but was dropped by Matthew Breetzke at third before the left-hander top-scored with 37 off 28 balls.Pakistan could have been bowled out more cheaply, but Mohammad Nawaz made 36 off 20 balls and was one of the four batters to reach double figures.AdvertisementBosch
