Pakistan 317 for 6 (Imam 101, Babar 69, Steyn 2-43, Rabada 2-57) v South Africa
Pakistan took advantage of a flat track and a ragged performance in the field from the hosts to raise 317 for 6 in the third ODI at Centurion. Imam-ul-Haq reached his fifth ODI century to underpin the innings, sharing in stands of 132 with Babar Azam and 84 with Mohammad Hafeez to set a platform before a promoted Imad Wasim accelerated the innings with an unbeaten 23-ball 43.
Imam was a recipient of a second life courtesy one of South Africa’s five lapses in the field, dropped by Tabraiz Shamsi at mid-off off Dale Steyn shortly after he had raised his fifty. Babar, Hafeez, Shoaib Malik and Imad were all also dropped off chances of varying difficulty and made the errors count on what has been the most batting-friendly pitch of Pakistan’s tour so far.
Pakistan were thus able to slowly but surely build momentum through their innings, taking just 38 off the first Powerplay but 91 off the last ten.
Beuran Hendricks, the left-arm seamer on ODI debut, struck with his seventh ball in the format, Fakhar Zaman top-edging a swipe to offer a simple chance to Kagiso Rabada at midwicket for 2. With Babar – dropped on 9 by Andile Phehlukwayo at square leg – leading Pakistan’s counterattack after the early loss of Fakhar, Imam took his time settling in. His strike rate was nestled around 50 until the first drinks break, after which he started to take a more proactive approach.
At the other end, Babar reached a 56-ball fifty with a swiped pull off an inconsistent Shamsi, and five overs later Imam followed him to the landmark with an uppercut boundary over point. The pair had been made to toil through their century stand, running a lot of singles, but just as they began to reverse the pressure – and three balls after Imam was put down at mid-off – Babar misread a Steyn slower ball to be trapped lbw for 69. – Cricinfo
