Faisalabad, Nov 8 (IANS) Leg-spinner Abrar Ahmed led a superb performance by the Pakistan spinners with a four-fer as they bundled out South Africa for a paltry 143, paving the way for a series-clinching 2-1 victory in the three-match ODI series at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad on Saturday.

With Abrar Ahmed claiming 4-27 to top their efforts in bowling and Saim Ayub scoring his third ODI half-century, Pakistan scored 144/3 in 25.1 overs and romped to a seven-wicket win over South Africa. The win with 24.5 overs to spare is one of Pakistan’s biggest in terms of overs and confirms victory in Shaheen Shah Afridi’s first assignment as ODI captain.

Pakistan won the first ODI by two wickets, but South Africa came roaring back to win the next match by eight wickets at the same Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad. With this, South Africa ended their multi-format tour of Pakistan, finishing the two-Test series 1-1 but lost the T20I and ODI series by an identical margin of 2-1.

Electing to bat first, South Africa got off to a decent start with Quinton de Kock (53, 70b, 6×4, 1×6) and Lhuan-dre Pretorius (39, 45b, 4×4, 1×6) sharing a 72-run opening wicket partnership. But Salman Ali Agha (2-18) removed Pretorius to break the partnership in the 15th over and then got rid of Tony de Zorzi (2) in the 19th over as South Africa fell to 87/2.

Mohammad Nawaz (2-31) trapped top-scorer de Kock lbw in the 25th over to trigger a collapse as the visitors slumped from 106/3 to 109/4 just four deliveries later, as Abrar clean-bowled the debutant Rubin Hermann for one.

Two overs later, Abrar weaved his magic again, dismissing Donovan Ferreira (7) and Corbin Bosch on consecutive deliveries to leave South Africa reeling on 117-6. Nawaz pitched in with another wicket in the next over as he removed Bjorn Fortuin.

South Africa’s problems were compounded when their skipper Matthew Breetzke fell in the 34th over, nicking one off Abrar to Mohammad Rizwan, who completed a sharp catch — South Africa slipping to 130/8. Pakistan skipper Shaheen Afridi then cleaned up the tail to bundle South Africa out for 143 in 37.5 overs.

For Pakistan, Abrar spearheaded the attack with his career-best 4-27 in 10 overs. Nawaz, Agha, and Shaheen (2-18) chipped in with two wickets apiece.

Pakistan chased a small target in just 25.1 overs for the loss of three wickets. Opening batter Saim Ayub anchored the chase with a 70-ball 77, studded with 11 fours and a six.

Saim was involved in a 64-run partnership with former captain Babar Azam (27, 32b, 5×4) for the second wicket and a 65-run stand with Mohammad Rizwan (32 not out, 45b, 3×4, 1×6) for the third wicket.

For the tourists, Nandre Burger (1-29) and Bjorn Fortuin (1-34) picked up one wicket each.

Brief scores:

South Africa 143 all out in 37.5 overs (Quinton de Kock 53, Lhuan-dre Pretorius 39; Abrar Ahmed 4-27, Shaheen Shah Afridi 2-18, Salman Ali Agha 2-18, Mohammad Nawaz 2-31) lost to Pakistan 144/3 in 25.1 overs (Saim Ayub 77, Mohammad Rizwan 32 not out; Nandre Burger 1-29, Bjorn Fortuin 1-34) by seven wickets.

–IANS

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