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Right - that's all we have for you from the 2nd T20I between these two teams in green (and yellow). The Proteas take an unassailable 2-nil lead in the 3-match series mainly thanks to a clinical six-hitting exhibition from Reeza Hendricks, one that led to a maiden T20I hundred for the opener. Rassie van der Dussen also played his part, stitching 163 with Hendricks and then applying the finishing touches. Both sides will meet at The Wanderers tomorrow for what might well be a dead rubber - pride at stake for one, prospect of rotation for the other. Join us right here on Sportskeeda for our coverage of that, and keep an eye on our page for a whole lot more! This is Rajarshi Das, signing off on behalf of Pradeep Somasekhar. Good night!
Heinrich Klaasen [South Africa captain]: Goal achieved. Much needed as well, happy for the guys. He's (Hendricks) so unbelievably easy on the eye when he comes off, couldn't have happened to a better guy. Bit frustrated (at the halfway stage first innings), quite happy after that. We were looking to keep them down to 180, discipline came in again, we bowled a couple too many wides. Looked like a bit of dew, the wicket didn't look like it'd change a lot. Got a little tight towards the end, they started hitting the yorkers, but Rassie is a class-act. He's got a world of experience. Job done. Superb start from him as well (Galiem), bowled really well. Hope he can do it tomorrow again. Main goal was to win this series. Tomorrow we'll see who's fit and who's not and take it from there.
Mohammed Rizwan [Pakistan captain]: Hendricks played really well. Saim played exceptionally well, after 10 overs, those period in the middle order, we lost the momentum, we were looking to get to 220 but they bowled really well. Saim is one of our best players, hopefully he does that for us again next game. Irfan is the power hitter, he's done well in the domestic, hopefully he stays consistent. Tomorrow we will come back and do well.
Reeza Hendricks is the Player of the Match! Here's what he has to say: Quite pleased to get to three figures, it's been a while, nice to contribute and help the team over the line. Special tonight surely. Another opportunity to play for the country, first over, five dot balls, got away and then clicked later, things worked out well in the end. It's one of those nights, shots I played it worked, it was a tactic to target the short boundaries and it came off. I played with Rassie back with the Lions, it worked and he played an unbelievable knock.
9:51 P.M. Local Time, 1:21 A.M. IST - Match summary:
South Africa win by 7 wickets with 3 balls to spare
Pakistan began on the right note with the new ball - Shaheen Shah Afridi got the ball to shape in to Reeza Hendricks for most of the first over. It took Hendricks six deliveries to get off the mark in the first place. Ryan Rickelton nicked behind two balls in off Jahandad Khan, Matthew Breetzke came in but struggled quite a bit. He did find and clear the boundary once each, but the dots kept piling up, and in trying to hit out, he offered a simple catch to Shaheen Afridi off Jahandad Khan off the last ball of the 4th.
However, as it turned out, that was going to be the last of breakthroughs for Pakistan, for a prolonged time at that. Reeza Hendricks had his eye in by then, and proceeded to greet Haris Rauf into the attack with a couple of towering sixes behind square. Hendricks cleared deep square off Jahandad Khan on one occasion in the final over of the powerplay as well, and South Africa ended the first six overs with 52 on the board.
Hendricks kept accelerating going into the middle overs as well. Abbas Afridi was greeted to the attack with a lusty blow over long on. 9 runs came off his first over, nineteen came off his second, and barring Abrar Ahmed's leg-breaks, Pakistan just weren't able to find ways to control the flow of runs. Rassie van der Dussen joined in on the act soon after, taking a liking to Haris Rauf's hard lengths in the 11th over, and the 3rd wicket partnership kept growing, crossing the three-figure mark.
Both batters saw off Pakistan's biggest bowling threat of the night, Abrar, with relative ease. In fact, Hendricks had a slog sweep against him in his final over and helped take 12 off it. The runs continued to flow along as Reeza Hendricks reached a scintillating hundred in the 16th over. A total of 32 runs came across overs 15 and 16, and the game slanted heavily towards the hosts.
Abbas Afridi accounted for Reeza Hendricks with a slower one in the 18th over, but the damage was all but done by then. 19 runs were needed off the last two overs, 13 came off the penultimate over from Haris Rauf as he tried cranking up the pace but erred in line eventually. There were a few nerves, but Rassie van der Dussen put an end to all that with a blow over deep square, sealing things with half an over to spare. Stay tuned for the presentation ceremony....
19.3 Abbas Afridi to Rassie van der Dussen, SIX! GAME, SET AND MATCH! South Africa take the series, 2-0 with one game to go! South Africa hunted down a total over 200 without much fuss, what a game of cricket we just witnessed. Another slower one, too predictable. RVD down on one knee, swings across and clobbered it all the way over deep square-leg for a maximum.
Kamikaze cricket all around! RVD slipped at least thrice trying to go for two, the throw had to be at the keeper's end. Truth be told - the throw wasn't at either end. Oh, Pakistan....
19.2 Abbas Afridi to Rassie van der Dussen, OH DEAR! Absolute chaos in the middle. Short outside the off-stump. RVD too early into the pull but there's a huge mix-up. A better throw would've had RVD big time, but he gets a big let off as he gets across after he loses his bat too.
19.1 Abbas Afridi to Heinrich Klaasen, pace off, on a length on off-stump. Klaasen hangs back to heave, doesn't get hold of it, goes to deep square-leg and they get one.
Yet again, Rauf was too predictable. He wasn't going to go pace-off any longer, but Rauf got the length all wrong. There was room for Rassie to give it a whack, he did, and the Proteas now need 6 at a run a ball.
19
overs
201/3score
1
1
4
1
0
6
runs
Rassie van der Dussen*
58(36)
Heinrich Klaasen
7(4)
Haris Rauf
0/57
18.6 Haris Rauf to Rassie van der Dussen, SIX! KABOOM! Even better from Rassie. That has disappeared into the crowd over long-on for a maximum. On a length, wide of off-stump. RVD walks down the wicket, sits on one knee, absolutely pounded over long-on for a maximum.
18.5 Haris Rauf to Rassie van der Dussen, OH! Full outside the off-stump, RVD reaches with a big swing and a miss. Need a boundary here for South Africa of the last ball.
18.4 Haris Rauf to Heinrich Klaasen, yorker length, tailed into the blockhole. Klaasen digs it out to mid-wicket for a quick single.
18.3 Haris Rauf to Heinrich Klaasen, FOUR! Much needed boundary for South Africa, bridges the gap between the runs needed and the balls left. Full outside the off-stump, Klaasen opens the face of the blade, slices it wide of backward point, runs away and finds the ropes.
18.2 Haris Rauf to Rassie van der Dussen, low full toss outside the off-stump, RVD sits on one knee, clubbed it down to long-on for another single.
18.1 Haris Rauf to Heinrich Klaasen, length delivery outside the off-stump, Klaasen laces it through covers for just one.
Haris Rauf (3-0-44-0) is back into the attack
A ninth T20I half-century comes along for Hendrik Erasmus van der Dussen. The onus is on him to finish things off with 19 runs remaining off the last two overs.