Finally, Pakistan’s crowd got what they wanted. Babar Azam struck an imperious 68 off 47 balls to take charge of a flagging Pakistani chase of 140, helping them ultimately cruise to the finish line with four wickets and one over to spare. It was his 37th T20I half-century overall, and his first since May 2024, helping Pakistan seal the series 2-1 against South Africa.

The game appeared far from certain despite a relatively modest chase after Saim Ayub holed out softly for a six-ball duck. Corbin Bosch was Pakistan’s usual tormentor with a tight pair of overs, with George Linde also typically miserly as the visitors began to squeeze. Sahibzada Farhan and Salman Agha both struggled for touch early, and by the eighth over, the asking rate was beginning to approach eight.

Babar, however, found a way to keep easing the pressure, recording nine fours through the innings, including three with the sweep. Busy running between the wickets in the interim turned the partnership with Agha into an ultimately match-winning one. The pair fell just short of the finish line within five runs of each other but by then, they had put together 76 in 52 balls.

It promised to be much more straightforward when Shaheen Shah Afridi burst through the defences of Quinton de Kock and Lhuan-dre Pretorius in an electric first over. South Africa rebuilt with a workmanlike rearguard from Reeza Hendricks,  supported by cameos from Dewald Brevis and Donovan Ferriera. Faheem Ashraf struck through the middle to leave them wobbling at 95 for 7, but Bosch chipped in with an unbeaten 30 off 23 to leave himself, as well as his team-mates, something to bowl at. Babar ensured it would not quite be enough.

That Shaheen will pick up a wicket in his opening over is almost so regular as to be mundane. But how about two, and possibly three?

Utilising the swing that vaporises within a few overs of the innings, Shaheen got one to nip back into de Kock, whose tentative push only saw him deflect it off the inside edge onto his stumps. Shaheen would soon turn a successful opening over into an epic. Pretorius clipped one off the pads first up, only to pick out short fine leg perfectly, with debutant Usman Tariq completing a straightforward catch.

And still the drama wouldn’t end. A lovely delivery two balls later cut Dewald Brevis in half, seaming back in and crashing into his knee. Shaheen wouldn’t appeal, and the umpire didn’t need one, raising his finger immediately. It was only on review that DRS, somewhat surprisingly, showed it bouncing well over and denied the left-arm quick a third wicket in an incredible start that set the tone for Pakistan; they would keep South Africa to 22 in the powerplay, their third-lowest in T20I history.

Mohammad Nawaz has enjoyed some of the form of his career since he was reintroduced into the T20I side earlier this year. On Sunday, his introduction to the attack right after the powerplay came at a position of strength. But Brevis, who showed sparks of his devastating ability in the middle overs of the first T20I, smacked him over the sightscreen off his third ball, signing off the over with another one over midwicket.

Nawaz did snare Matthew Breetzke in his second over, but when he came back for his third, South African captain Ferreira was primed. Two sixes and a four saw him blown out of the attack for good as the visitors began to get their innings on track. The five overs immediately after the powerplay produced 55, with Nawaz’s three leaking 38. It laid the foundations for a defendable total.

Throughout this series, crowds in Islamabad and Lahore have cheered when the fall of a wicket brought Babar in to bat, and streamed out of grounds the moment he got out. In the decider, at the Gaddafi, there was no ungluing them from their seats. Ayub fell early, whipping the crowd into an excitement as Babar ambled up to the crease. Pakistan’s supporters have deluded themselves for a while now, thinking this might just be the innings that brings him back to his stratospheric height, often in vain. He began inconspicuously enough; it wasn’t until the ninth ball that he found his first boundary.

Babar began to do things differently. He swept – you read that right – Linde over fine leg for his third boundary, and the glimpses of an innings began to sketch themselves into existence. Farhan, and later Agha, struggled to make much of a dent in the strike rate, and so, in the sort of chase Babar is generally built for, he took control.

Time and again, he would punish South Africa for missing their lines and found sumptuous timing along the way. Like the top of a ketchup bottle finally being unscrewed, he denuded the match of its jeopardy with three successive boundaries off Ottniel Baartman, the third bringing up a 36-ball half-century.

Bosch had kept Pakistan to just six runs in his first two overs, but Babar caressed him for a boundary over mid-on before lashing one past cover for four more. A crowd that tends to clear out upon Babar’s dismissal was rooted as he got each of his 68 runs, only clearing out after a rare, poorly placed jab found deep square leg.

Brief scores:
Pakistan 140 for 6 in 19 overs  (Shaibzada Farhan 19, Babar Azam 68, Salman Agha 3; Donovan Fereirra 1-30, Corbin , Bosch 2-24, Lizaad Williams 2-26, Andile Simelane 1-23) beat South Africa 139 for 9 in 20 overs (Reeza Hendricks 34, Dewald Brevis 21, Donovan Fereirra 29, Corbin Bosch 30*, Andile Simelane 13; Shaheen Shah Afridi 3-26, Salman Miraz 1-16, Usman Tariq 2-26, Faheem Ashraf 2-28, Mohammed Nawaz 1-38) by four wickets

[Cricinfo]