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Leg-spinner Abrar Ahmed flummoxed inexperienced batters of South Africa with a career-best 4-27 and led Pakistan to a series-clinching seven-wicket triumph successful the 3rd and last ODI connected Saturday (November 8, 2025).
South Africa, which yet won its archetypal flip connected the circuit of Pakistan aft losing seven-in-a-row crossed formats, was bowled retired for 143 successful 37.5 overs, losing its past 8 wickets for conscionable 37 runs.
Opening batter Saim Ayub past deed a belligerent 77 with 11 fours and a six that carried Pakistan to 144-3 successful conscionable 25.1 overs for a 2-1 triumph successful the series.
Pakistan won the archetypal crippled narrowly by 2 wickets and South Africa bounced backmost with the assistance of Quinton de Kock’s unbeaten period to triumph the 2nd crippled by 8 wickets successful Faisalabad, which hosted its archetypal planetary games aft 17 years.
South Africa drew the two-test bid 1-1, but Pakistan fought backmost to bushed the Proteas 2-1 successful the T20 bid with back-to-back wins successful Lahore.
Ahmed spins retired Proteas
The left-handed opening brace of de Kock and Lhuan-dre Pretorius gave South Africa its 3rd successive 70-plus commencement earlier the Proteas got strangled against the spinners connected a tricky wicket.
The brace started cautiously against Pakistan skipper Shaheen Shah Afridi’s left-arm gait and off-spinner Ayub earlier cutting suffer against accelerated bowler Haris Rauf.
Rauf, who returned aft serving two-match prohibition for violating ICC codification of behaviour during the Asia Cup successful precocious September, was smashed for 3 boundaries successful his archetypal implicit and de Kock got his archetypal runs with 2 back-to-back boundaries against Afridi arsenic the brace enactment connected 72 runs.
Off-spinner Salman Ali Agha provided the breakthrough erstwhile helium had Pretorius caught astatine long-on for 39 and soon afterwards Tony de Zorzi chipped distant an casual drawback astatine other cover.
De Kock became the second-fastest South African batter to implicit 7,000 ODI runs successful 158 innings aft Hashim Amla and raised his fractional period with a reverse expanse against the left-arm spinner Mohammad Nawaz. However, lone 2 balls aboriginal helium tried to slog expanse Nawaz and was retired lbw for 53 disconnected 70 balls that triggered a spectacular South African collapse.
Abrar picked up 3 wickets successful his 2 overs arsenic helium bushed debutant Rubin Hermann with a googly and cleanable bowled the left-hander; knocked backmost the limb stump astir the legs of Donovan Ferreira and past deed the disconnected stump of Corbin Bosch of a transportation that kept precise low.
South Africa batters paid heavy for going onto the backfoot against the spinners arsenic Bjorn Fortuin was retired plumb limb earlier wicket against Nawaz, who finished with 2-31.
Afridi past finished disconnected tailenders with 2 wickets successful 2 balls arsenic South Africa, playing without 7 front-line white-ball players successful the ODI series, got bowled retired with much than 12 overs to spare.
“Not capable runs, we were astir apt looking astatine 250,” South Africa skipper Matthew Breetzke said.
“It was pugnacious conditions and unluckily we mislaid excessively galore wickets determination … Abrar bowled truly nicely. Unluckily I got retired successful his past over. I was looking to beryllium much affirmative aft that, but yea determination was adaptable bounce.”
Ayub cruises Pakistan
Pakistan wobbled aboriginal erstwhile Fakhar Zaman fell for his 2nd successive duck and was cleanable bowled by Nandre Burger disconnected his 2nd ball.
Ayub survived a adjacent lbw against Burger but chopped adjacent against the gait arsenic helium raced to his fractional period disconnected 39 balls with Babar Azam (27) besides showing signs of returning backmost into batting bushed with his trademark screen drives.
Both added amended than run-a-ball 65 for the 2nd wicket basal earlier Babar got run-out portion going for the 3rd tally but couldn’t bushed the propulsion of Bosch from 3rd and was abbreviated of his crease.
With lone 14 required for victory, Ayub holed retired to long-on to springiness left-arm spinner Fortuin consolation wicket arsenic Mohammad Rizwan (32 not out) and Agha finished disconnected the crippled with astir fractional the overs to spare.
“It has been teamwork, and we person worked precise hard crossed the formats, truthful recognition goes to the players,” Afridi said aft starring Pakistan to triumph successful his debut bid arsenic ODI skipper.
“We didn’t get truthful overmuch assistance successful the archetypal five-six overs, but erstwhile the spinners came in, they made it tough. When you play planetary cricket, you person to beryllium acceptable for each situations, truthful each subordinate who came successful took their chances.”
