Rassie van der Dussen and Quinton de Kock also chip in with vital half-centuries in big batting effort
South Africa 341 for 6 (Bavuma 92, de Kock 80, van der Dussen 60, Haris 3-54) vs Pakistan
Big contributions at the top of the order took South Africa to 341 in their bid to level the three-match ODI series at Wanderers.
In the annual pink ODI to raise money for breast cancer awareness, 92 from South Africa’s new ODI captain Temba Bavuma led the charge against a listless attack, with the hosts in complete control right through the innings.
Contributions from Quinton de Kock (80) and David Miller (50 off 27 balls) served as the perfect goodbye present from two men set to leave for the IPL before the third ODI, going a long way to ensuring the series will still be up for grabs then.
Conditions here were quite similar to the one at Centurion wo days ago. Babar Azam called correctly again and elected to field on a belter, seemingly keen on knowing their target. But this time, there was no sedate start from Aiden Markram, who took the set the tone with a classy cameo in the first Powerplay, his 34-ball 39 ensuring Shaheen Afridi and Mohammad Hasnain were unable to build much pressure early on. Once he fell, driving on the up off Faheem Ashraf, de Kock took more of a leadership role.
Haris Rauf was smashed for a six over fine leg and a boundary in the same over, while neither he nor Bavuma allowed Shadab Khan to settle. Even Afridi, brought back a little earlier than Pakistan might have planned owing to the lack of wickets that fell, suffered punishment in his second spell, with de Kock taking 18 runs off his two overs.
There was little incision at the top from Pakistan, and while the rawness of Mohammad Hasnain means there will be ups and downs, he was especially indifferent on Sunday. While Bavuma and the irrepressible Rassie van der Dussen were in full flow, Pakistan looked like they had reverted to going through the motions; discussions between captain and bowler were few and far between, and slot balls and full tosses abounded. Shadab’s nosediving form shows little signs of recovering.
Van der Dussen brought up his half-century with a sweep to midwicket, following it up with another six and four off the hapless Hasnain. But with the South African going after just about every ball by this stage, he would hole out in the same over to long on, his 37-ball 60 having pushed what looked like a 300 total past 330. Bavuma was unselfish at the other end, continuing to go for high-risk shots even as a first hundred as captain beckoned, and found deep midwicket just eight short of the milestone.
By this time, Pakistan’s sloppiness was infectious, Faheem Ashraf leaked 13 off one ball when a no-ball and the free hit were ach dispatched for six by David Miller whose 27-ball 50 further damaged Pakistan. Haris Rauf did manage to pick up a couple of late wickets that slowed South Africa in the final few overs, but Miller would compensate for it by plundering 19 off Shaheen’s final over. Pakistan have never chased a total this high before, and have much of their work ahead of them on the other side of the break.
Danyal Rasool is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo. @Danny61000