Centurion: Two centuries, one each by host South Africa's Rassie van der Dussen and later Pakistan's skipper Babar Azam. But, it was the visitors who came good in the end to clinch a last-ball win in the first ODI, here on Friday.
Chasing a moderate 274 for win, Pakistan clinched the issue off the last ball to go 1-0 up with three wickets in hand.
"There was some moisture in the pitch like I said before the game. Credit goes to the bowlers for restricting South Africa with wickets in the powerplay. I told the bowlers to bowl on hard lengths and we got some swing as well. We got back to back wickets and that helped us in restricting them. When I went in the plan was to bat with our strength and build a long partnership with Imam. Nortje was outstanding with his spell and we saw some mistakes at that time but we'll learn from it. This win will give us a lot of confidence for the next game," said the Man Of the Match, Babar.
Brief scores
Pakistan 274 for 7 (Babar 103, Imam 70, Nortje 4-51) bt South Africa 273 for 6 (van der Dussen 123*, Miller 50, Afridi 2-61) by three wickets