Salman Agha takes four wickets in 22 balls against SA but misses the first ODI five-for with two overs left in the quota

Pakistan off-break bowler Salman Agha spun his net and broke the back of the South African batting line-up with four wickets in 3.2 overs in the first ODI at Boland Park, Paarl. Agha was the pick of the bowlers for Pakistan and took wickets in quick succession to give the visitors the upper hand in the game.

First up, South Africa got off to a solid start with Tony de Zorzi (33) and Ryan Rickelton (36) sharing a 70-run stand for the opening wicket. Desperate for a wicket, captain Mohammad Rizwan introduced spinner Agha in the powerplay at the start of the attack. Agha was hit out of bounds for a hat-trick in his second over but recovered in style with the wicket of de Zorzi on the fourth ball of the over to break the opening stand. Wickets kept coming after that as he dismissed Rickelton in his third over, while Rassie van der Dussen (8) and Tristian Stubbs (1) became his next two victims.

However, despite having two overs left in his quota, he failed to take his first ODI five-wicket haul. Rizwan didn’t bring him back to the attack after the 22nd over and Afgha ended his spell with four for 32 in eight overs.

Klaasen leads South Africa to 239/9

Wicketkeeper-batsman Heinrich Klaasen rescued the Proteas from a difficult position and helped them to a challenging total of 239/9 in 50 overs. Klaasen missed his century but played a valuable 86-run knock off 97 balls. Besides Afgha, spinner Abrar Ahmed also picked up a couple of wickets while Shaheen Shah Afridi and Saim Ayub settled for one each.

Earlier, Mohammad Rizwan had hinted at the toss that 70 percent of the squad would be retained for next year’s Champions Trophy, making this series crucial for Pakistan.

“We also wanted to bat first. Yes, we are hosting the Champions Trophy but the conditions will be different but the squad will remain 70% the same. The boys are looking forward to the series. We have three seamers and a spinner,” Rizwan said while tossing.