From the ruins of Rawalpindi,Pakistan  rallied to level the T20I series against South Africa and romped to a nine wicket win in Lahore.

The match was all but over in the first 10 overs, when South Africa slipped to 66 for 6 after stunning spells from left-arm quick Salman Mirza, playing in his sixth T20I, Naseem Shah and Faheem Ashraf . Pakistan used pace-off balls to excellent effect and South Africa put on one of their poorer displays of shot selection in a performance they will want to forget. Only one batter, Dewald Brevis, got past 20, and only one partnership did the same. With Lhuan-dre Pretorius on the bench, South Africa may want to rethink their line-up heading into tomorrow’s decider.

On the other hand, Pakistan played the situation to perfection. Their bowlers read the surface well before the batters knocked off their target of 111 with 41 balls to spare. An opening stand of 54 between Sahibzada Farhan and Saim Ayub set them up before Ayub and Babar Azam finished things off with an unbroken 58 for the second wicket. In the process, Babar became the leading run-scorer in T20Is.

The series is 1-1 with the decider to come in less than 24 hours’ time.

Mirza was given an opportunity ahead of fellow left-armer Shaheeh Shah Afridi and made an immediate impact. He set Reeza Hendricks up with an opening delivery that moved away from him and then brought the second one back in and found leg stump to dismiss him for a duck. In the next over, Mirza angled a couple into Tony de Zorzi’s pads, then went for the surprise short ball and de Zorzi missed his pull. That was a warning. Two balls later, Mirza went for a slower-ball bouncer and de Zorzi pulled to Abrar Ahmed at short fine leg.

In between those dismissals, Quinton de Kock was caught at mid-off off a slower ball from Naseem Shah and dismissed cheaply for the third time since his comeback, and Naseem could have had more. Matthew Breetzke was dropped at short third off him, which only allowed Mirza to get a third. He delivered another cutter, beat Breetzke’s edge, and bowled him to leave South Africa 23 for 4 in the fifth over.

Brevis threatened to take control with a quickfire 25 off 16 balls including three sixes, all hit cleanly, but mishit a slower short ball from Faheem to cover point. South Africa were in all sorts at 49 for 5 in the eighth over, and stand-in captain Donovan Ferreria could barely rebuild. He chopped a Faheem short ball onto his stumps at the end of the 10th over. Two overs later, George Linde went almost exactly the same way, playing the pull rather than cut, but also edging onto his stumps. South Africa were 73 for 7 but dragged things into the 20th over before getting bowled out for 110.

After a duck on T20I comeback in Rawalpindi, expectation was high on Babar, especially on his home ground, and he was in the mood to deliver. He creamed the first ball he faced through the covers for four to send Lahore into a frenzy. Then he was stuck on 6 off 7 for two overs, with Ayub taking all the strike and carving big chunks off the target. Babar needed three more to overtake Rohit Sharma as the leading run-scorer in T20Is. He got there at the start of the 12th over with a single of Ferreira – his 4232nd run in the format – and the home fans knew exactly what he had achieved. Babar received appreciative applause from a packed crowd, and Ayub sealed the game with a six two overs later. Babar is now three runs ahead of Rohit, who is retired from the format.

Brief scores:

Pakistan 112 for 1 in 13.1 overs (Saim Ayub 71*,  Sahibzada Farhan 28, Babar Azam11*;  Corbin Bosch 1-17) beat South Africa 110 in 19.2 overs  (Dewald Brevis 25, Donovan Ferreira 15, Corbin Bosch 11, Ottneil Baartman 12;  Faheem Ashraf 4-23, Salman Mirza 3-14, Naseem Shah 2-28, AbrarAhmed1-26) by nine wickets

(Cricinfo)