Led by centuries from Mohammad Rizwan and Salman Agha, Pakistan registered their highest successful ODI run chase, beating South Africa by six wickets in a high-scoring encounter in Karachi on Wednesday. The win, their first in the tournament, has now sent them to the final of the tri-series to be played on Friday (February 14).

Pakistan had made a steady start to the run-chase with Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman putting on a half-century stand in less than six overs, before the former departed. Even as Babar had set the tempo with two boundaries in the opening over, much of the attack in this period had come from Zaman’s bat. The southpaw had taken a liking to Corbin Bosch and smashed him for 25 runs in two overs.

Zaman’s assault aside, South Africa kept chipping with regular wickets to reduce the home side to 91 for 3 by the 11th over. Saud Shakeel holed out to Wiaan Mulder at deep mid wicket while Zaman’s jab caught the outside edge to the ‘keeper. Nonetheless, the brisk start offered time for Agha and Rizwan to settle in.

Even as Rizwan got going by pulling the first ball of his innings for a boundary, he soon moved towards a more conservative approach. In the early part of their partnership, Agha and Rizwan depended more on rotating the strike, and were pacing at well below run-a-ball by the time they brought up the half-century of their partnership.

Even as there were the occasional boundaries flowing, the first intent of pressing the accelerator was noticed in the 29th over, when Rizwan slogswept Keshav Maharaj for a six and then went down the track to Senuran Muthuswamy for the same result. Agha was more pleasant with his strokeplay even as he played some fine shots on the up. As the partnership swelled, the flow of boundaries also increased. Runs came at a faster pace and the bowlers seemed less threatening.

Rizwan brought up his century by pulling Wiaan Mulder for a six, only three balls before Agha reached the mark with a single – his maiden ODI ton. The duo added 260 runs for the fourth wicket before Agha’s innings was cut short, two runs short of the target. Tayyab Tahir completed the formalities by stroking the first ball of his innings for a boundary to help Pakistan over the line with an over to spare.

Earlier in the day, half-centuries by Temba Bavuma, Matthew Breetzke and Heinrich Klaasen had set the stage for South Africa’s total of 352 for 5. Opting to bat, the visitors had blazed away to 51 runs within the eighth over before losing their first wicket, when Toni De Zorzi’s edge was pouched by a fine diving effort from Agha at slips. It was the first of the two stunning catches he had taken.

The second had come much later, against the run of play at the start of the 39th over, when Breetzke’s powerful cover drive on the up was intercepted by Agha, who dived to his right. However, between those two catches by Agha, South Africa had laid a strong foundation with Bavuma and Breetzke stitching a 119-run alliance and Breetzke adding 68 more in the company of Klaasen.

On a pitch where there wasn’t much assistance for the bowlers, it was an well-paced innings by South Africa. Without having to take too many risks, Bavuma used the width of the crease well to find a regular flow of boundaries. Breetzke, on the other hand, was more assertive with his intent to score. Every now and then he gave the charge to the bowlers, unsettled them from their lengths and used it to his advantage.

The flow of boundaries continued in a good flow as they marched along at close to run a ball. Much like Breetzke’s innings later, Bavuma’s stay too was cut short in the 80s and without the bowler having much of a role to play in it. Bavuma set off for a single after cutting the ball to backward point. However, Breetzke aborted the run, leaving his captain stuck mid-way on the pitch. The dismissal led to aggressive celebrations from the Pakistanis, which even forced the umpires to intervene and warn the captain.

While Breetzke continued in his pace, Klaasen cut loose in the 34th over, smashing Mohammad Hasnain for four boundaries. He kept the attack going and drilled two boundaries off Naseem Shah too just before Breetzke’s fall. Even as two set batters were dismissed, the stage was set for a late flourish, and Klaasen capitalised on it in the company of Kyle Verreynne. The most ruthless of the attacks came against Shaheen Afridi, who was taken apart for 20 runs in the 46th over. Hasnain came under fire again in the last over of the innings when Corbin Bosch launched him for a boundary and a six. In a contest where more than 700 runs were scored, it seemed like South Africa’s acceleration came a little too late.

Brief scores:
South Africa 353/5 in 50 overs (Heinrich Klaasen 87, Matthew Breetzke 83, Temba Bavuma 82; Shaheen Afridi 2-66) lost to Pakistan 355/4 in 49 overs (Salman Agha 134, Mohammad Rizwan 122*; Wiaan Mulder 2-79) by 6 wickets

England’s miserable tour came to an end following another lopsided win for the home side as India hammered the visitors in the final ODI in Ahmedabad. India’s massive win was headlined by Shubman Gill’s seventh ton which came in his 50th ODI appearance for India and there were also contributions from the likes of Shreyas Iyer, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul. In reply, England’s chase fizzled out around the halfway mark as they lost by a massive margin of 142 runs.

With a daunting target of 357 ahead of them, England came out all guns blazing on expected lines. Ben Duckett in particular was severe against India’s new ball bowlers as he hit four boundaries against Harshit Rana before finding the fence on four successive occasions against Arshdeep Singh. As a result of this onslaught, England raced to 60/0 in just six overs, setting themselves up for the tall chase. However, things quickly turned when Duckett completely mistimed a knuckleball from Arshdeep to get caught for 34.

Tom Banton, getting an opportunity at No.3, started off with a switch-hit six against Washington Sundar but at the other end, another slower delivery from Arshdeep consumed Phil Salt. While England had 84 runs in the first nine overs, the two wickets did cause a dent. Joe Root and Banton consolidated for a brief period with the latter employing the switch hit once again for another six, this time off Axar Patel. However, Kuldeep Yadav managed to send Banton back to the pavilion with a googly and Root was castled by Axar soon after.

If those two wickets weren’t enough, Rana came back to get the big wicket of Jos Buttler, who chopped one onto his stumps to pretty much signal the end. It was a case of rinse and repeat as Harry Brook endured the same fate against the same bowler in his next over. Expensive on the night, Washington managed to open his account by getting Liam Livingstone stumped and Hardik Pandya added a couple of lower order wickets which ensured at least one scalp for every single Indian bowler. If not for a few lusty blows from Gus Atkinson, England wouldn’t have breached even 200.

Earlier in the day, India showcased their batting might to breach 350 after being sent into bat. Rohit Sharma couldn’t replicate his Cuttack heroics and was sent packing very early in the innings but Gill managed to get off to a good start yet again. Virat Kohli, under a bit of pressure, found some much-needed rhythm as well. India made 52/1 in the first powerplay and showed no signs of slowing down with the field starting to spread. Root was treated with disdain by both batters, particularly Kohli who hit him for four boundaries spread across two overs and Gill sent Atkinson out of the attack with a four and a six.

The two batters then hit Livingstone for a six each before bringing up their fifties. Against the run of play though, Adil Rashid managed to induce the outside edge of Kohli but England’s hopes of halting the flow of runs proved to be futile. Shreyas Iyer made a positive start to his innings yet again and his boundary-spree saw him race to 40 off just 30 at one point. Gill, who was continuing to make merry at the other end, brought up yet another century at his favourite venue but Rashid gave England a timely strike by getting rid of the opener just when he was looking to cut loose.

The legspinner had a very good outing as he also dismissed a well-set Shreyas for 78 before removing Hardik off the final ball of his spell. India would have still fancied their chances of touching 375 given the platform that was laid but Hardik’s wicket, which was soon followed by Axar’s dismissal, forced them to retreat a touch. KL Rahul, walking out to bat at No.5 this time, chipped in with some timely boundaries to make 40 off just 29 balls before getting trapped lbw by an excellent yorker from Saqib Mahmood. That helped England apply the squeeze and concede only 22 runs in the last three overs, which simply didn’t matter in the end anyway.

Brief scores:
India 356 in 50 overs (Shubman Gill 112, Shreyas Iyer 78; Adil Rashid 4/64, Mark Wood 2/45) beat England 214 in 34.2 overs (Gus Atkinson 38; Axar Patel 2/22, Harshit Rana 2/31) by 142 runs