Miller shone as South Africa set Pakistan’s 184-run target in the first T20I cricket

DURBAN (Dunya News) – David Miller’s timely 82 runs helped South Africa set a mammoth 184-run target for Pakistan in the first T20I at Kingsmead Stadium in Durban on Tuesday.

The Pakistan bowlers managed to put pressure on the hosts in the first few overs as Abrar Ahmed and Shaheen Afridi took away their top spot in the first four overs.

Opener Reeza Hendricks was dismissed for eight runs, while Rassie Van Der Dussen opted for duck and Matthew Breetzke scored eight runs before Abrar dismissed him on the fourth delivery of his second over.

At this point, David Miller saved his team by making 82 from 40 balls. Skipper Heinrich Klassan was dropped for 12 runs. After their removal, middle orderer George Linde scored 48 runs, helping his side to a mammoth total of 183 runs.

For Pakistan, Abrar Ahmed and Shaheen Afridi claimed three wickets each while Abbas Afridi claimed two wickets.

Earlier, Proteas won the toss and elected to bat first against Pakistan.

The Pakistan team prepared extensively for the T20 series against South Africa and trained at Kingsmead Stadium.

National team captain Mohammad Rizwan expressed confidence that the team would perform well just like in Australia and Zimbabwe.

He stressed that Pakistan’s new players are full of talent although overseas series are always a challenge.

All-rounder Salman Ali Agha was left out of Pakistan’s starting XI for the first T20I.

Agha, who led Pakistan in the recently concluded three-match away T20I series against Zimbabwe, managed to score just 45 runs in two innings and also took two wickets, thereby losing his place in the team’s playing XI.

The recently unveiled line-up also marks the return of Pakistan’s established opening pair of star batter Babar Azam and white-ball skipper Mohammad Rizwan, while Saim Ayub has been demoted to number three batsman, followed by wicketkeeper-batter Usman Khan.

Pakistan’s playing XI: Mohammad Rizwan (c), Babar Azam, Saim Ayub, Usman Khan, Tayyab Tahir, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Abbas Afridi, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Sufiyan Muqeem and Abrar Ahmed.