We were confident of chasing a below-par score: Hafeez

PORT ELIZABETH: Experienced all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez said after Pakistan’s victory in the first ODI against South Africa on Saturday that the team was confident it would reach the target.

“It was not a par score on this track, so we were confident chasing it,” Hafeez said. “We were very sure as a team we should chase this one. The start given by Fakhar and Imam(-ul-Haq) was brilliant, Babar (Azam) gave us momentum,” said Player of the Match Hafeez, whose 63-ball 71 helped Pakistan finish off the chase of 267 and take a 1-0 lead in the series.

Opener Imam (86) and No 3 Azam (49) laid a platform for the likes of Hafeez to capitalise on, which they did successfully. The left-handed Imam made a cultured 86 off 101 balls. Hashim Amla’s 27th ODI century was not enough for South Africa, who lost only two wickets in scoring 266 runs after winning the toss.

Pakistan’s bowlers deserved credit for their team’s win, which came after the tourists were well-beaten in all three Test matches. Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed used his bowlers in short spells and their mixture of seam and spin proved better suited to a slow pitch than South Africa’s attack.

South African strike bowlers Kagiso Rabada and Duanne Olivier conceded a combined 124 runs in 19.1 overs. The Pakistan batsmen also proved better at rotating the strike, particularly during a 94-run second-wicket stand between Imam and Azam (49).

Amla (108 not out) and new cap HE van der Dussen (93) put on 155 for South Africa’s second wicket but although they gradually increased the tempo of their partnership they were unable to dominate the bowling.

“Those two guys batted really well but there were probably 15 or 20 more runs that we could have scored if we had pushed a bit harder,” said South African captain Faf du Plessis.

“Pakistan bowled really well in the middle overs.”Seamer Hasan Ali and leg-spinner Shadab Khan were the best Pakistan bowlers and the only two who bowled their full quota of ten overs, taking one for 42 and one for 41, respectively.

Pakistan looked to be cruising to an easy win until Imam was dismissed in the 37th over when he stepped out of his crease and sliced an attempted drive to deep cover.Two more wickets fell cheaply before Hafeez and Shadab saw their side home.

Amla and RR Hendricks (45) put on 82 off 105 balls for the first wicket before van der Dussen made a slow start in his first ODI, taking ten balls to score his first run.Van der Dussen gained confidence as he hit six fours and three sixes in a 101-ball innings before hitting a full toss from Hasan to long-off in the 47th over.

Amla made his runs off 120 balls with seven fours and a six.With this win, Pakistan maintained their unbeaten record at St George’s Park. They have now won three out of the four matches they have played at the venue, with one match ending without result.

Sarfraz credited his batsmen for their first win of the tour. “The batting was very responsible,” Ahmed said. “In the middle overs, Shadab (Khan) was great, as well as Imad (Wasim). And the way our fast bowlers bowled was very good.”

South Africa captain Faf du Plessis also felt that his team was short of where they should have been. “The two guys (Amla and van der Dussen) batted really well, but perhaps there were 10 or 15 runs that we could have pushed a little harder for,” he said.

“Pakistan bowled better than us over fifty overs today,” du Plessis said.“Pakistan batted really well [too], you have to give credit where it’s due. Some great learnings for us, and we know where we can get better,” he added.The second ODI of the five-match series will be played on Tuesday (tomorrow) at Kingsmead, Durban.

South Africa won toss

South Africa

H Amla not out 108

R Hendricks c Hasan b Shadab 45

H van der Dussen c Malik b Hasan 93

D Miller not out 16

Extras (lb 3, w 1) 4

Total (2 wickets, 50 overs) 266

Did not bat: *F du Plessis, †H Klaasen, D Pretorius, A Phehlukwayo, K Rabada, Imran Tahir, D Olivier

Fall: 1-82, 2-237

Bowling: Faheem 10-0-64-0; Shinwari 8-0-49-0; Imad 7-0-37-0 (w 1); Hafeez 3-0-22-0; Hasan 10-2-42-1; Shadab 10-0-41-1; Fakhar 2-0-8-0

Pakistan

Imam-ul-Haq c Hendricks b Olivier 86

Fakhar Zaman c Pretorius b Olivier 25

Babar Azam b Hendricks 49

Mohammad Hafeez not out 71

Shoaib Malik b Phehlukwayo 12

*†Sarfraz Ahmed lbw b Tahir 1

Shadab Khan not out 18

Extras (lb 1, w 4) 5

Total (5 wickets, 49.1 overs) 267

Did not bat: Imad Wasim, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Usman Shinwari

Fall: 1-45, 2-139, 3-185, 4-218, 5-223

Bowling: Rabada 9.1-1-51-0; Olivier 10-0-73-2 (w 2); Pretorius 10-0-42-0; Phehlukwayo 7-0-43-1 (w 2); Imran Tahir 10-0-44-1; Hendricks 3-0-13-1

Result: Pakistan won by 5 wickets

Man of the Match: Mohammad Hafeez (Pakistan)

Umpires: Gregory Brathwaite (West Indies) and Allahudien Paleker (South Africa). TV umpire: Paul Reiffel (Australia). Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (Sri Lanka)