FAISALABAD: Pakistan overcame a late South African fightback to win the first one-day international by two wickets in a tense last-over finish in Faisalabad on Tuesday. The home team were cruising towards victory at 241-4, chasing a 264-run target, until South Africa grabbed four wickets for just 22 runs to set up a tense finish at Iqbal Stadium. Pakistan entered the last over needing four runs with three wickets standing, but lost Mohammad Nawaz off the third ball with the scores tied. Tail-ender Naseem Shah took a sharp single off the next ball to give Pakistan a 1-0 lead in the three-match series, with the final two matches on Thursday and Saturday, also in Faisalabad, which was hosting its first international cricket in 17 years. &quot;That always happens in cricket, but we&#39;ll try to make it not happen again,&quot; said Pakistan captain Shaheen Shah Afridi. &quot;It was a special occasion of cricket returning to Faisalabad, so we are happy that we won.&quot; Pakistan had bowled out South Africa for 263 in 49.1 overs despite half-centuries from openers Quinton de Kock and teenager Lhuan-dre Pretorius. &quot;I think we were 20-30 runs short,&quot; said Matthew Breetzke, who was leading the team for the first time. &quot;We lost wickets in clusters, but still there are a lot of positives.&quot; Opener Fakhar Zaman, who scored 45 with two sixes and four boundaries, and Saim Ayub, whose 39 included four fours and a six, gave Pakistan a solid start of 87. A packed 16,000 crowd welcomed the return of international cricket to the Iqbal Stadium, but were left disappointed when their favourite Babar Azam then fell for just seven. Salman Agha hit a 71-ball 62 and added 91 for the fourth wicket with Mohammad Rizwan, sacked as ODI skipper and replaced by Shaheen Shah Afridi last month, who scored 74-ball 55. Rizwan&#39;s fall in the 39th over raised South Africa&#39;s hopes. Before the match, South Africa&#39;s aggressive batter Dewald Brevis was ruled out of the series with a shoulder injury, further depleting the side already missing key players who are either injured or being rested. De Kock capped his return to ODIs after a two-year gap with a knock of 63, and 19-year-old Pretorius scored 57 from 60 balls on his ODI debut in an opening stand of 98 after the tourists were sent in to bat. Pakistan slowed South Africa as spinner Ayub, who finished with 2-39, dismissed Pretorius and Tony de Zorzi for 18. Pace bowler Shah, who took 3-40, further jolted the visitors with the wickets of De Kock and George Linde. Breetzke revived the innings with 42 off 54 balls before he holed out to long-off as spinner Abrar Ahmed collected 3-53. South Africa lost their last six wickets for 61 runs, giving Pakistan the chance to go one up.

Cricket

De Kock capped his return to ODIs after a two-year gap with a knock of 63 and debutant Pretorius scored 57 as Faisalabad's Iqbal Stadium staged its first international match in 17 years.

Pakistan edge South Africa in tense ODI finish in Faisalabad

Web Desk

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan&rsquo;s fast-bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi was named as the captain of one-day international (ODI) team, the cricket board said on Monday.&nbsp; In a post on X, the Pakistan Cricket Board said Afridi was going to be Pakistan&rsquo;s 32nd captain in the format. &nbsp; &ldquo;He is set to lead the team in the upcoming ODI series vs South Africa in Faisalabad,&rdquo; the cricket board said.&nbsp;<div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="true" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1980331580351725628&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Farticles%2F&sessionId=e81047ebe1425aa34b39905fd30ae8d5e4228e0b&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 901px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;" data-tweet-id="1980331580351725628">&nbsp;</iframe></div></div>Afridi was previously appointed as the captain for the T20 side; however, the pacer was removed after five games against New Zealand, a series Pakistan lost 4-1.&nbsp; He replaces wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan, who was appointed as captain last October following Babar Azam&#39;s resignation. According to the Associated Press of Pakistan, Afridi&rsquo;s appointment was finalized following a meeting held in Islamabad today.&nbsp; The meeting was attended by white-ball head coach Mike Hesson, Director of High-Performance Aqib Javed, and members of the selection committee, APP said. All three matches for the ODI series against South Africa would be played in Faisalabad on November 4, 6, and 8.

Afridi has previously led the side for T20s against New Zealand; he will be Pakistan’s 32nd ODI captain.

Shaheen Afridi named ODI captain; will lead Pakistan against South Africa 

ISLAMABAD: India and Pakistan will face off in the 14th match of the Men&rsquo;s T20 Asia Cup 2025 Super Four stage on Sunday at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.&nbsp;&nbsp;The match will start at 7:30 p.m. local time.&nbsp;Recent resultsIndia is leading Group A after winning all three group matches, earning six points with a net run rate of 3.547, including defeating the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Oman, and Pakistan.&nbsp; Meanwhile, Pakistan holds second place with four points, winning two of three games; their only loss was to India. Pakistan won against the UAE and Oman.&nbsp;Possible squadIndia&rsquo;s squad is captained by Suryakumar Yadav, with vice-captain Shubman Gill. Batters include Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson, and Rinku Singh while bowlers include Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, Harshit Rana, and Kuldeep Yadav.&nbsp; Axar Patel is part of the squad but may miss the game due to a recent head injury. The Pakistani side will be captained by Salman Agha, supported by batters Fakhar Zaman and Sahibzada Farhan. The bowling line-up features Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Nawaz, Abrar Ahmed, and Hasan Nawaz.&nbsp;VenueUmpires Asif Yaqoob and Rohan Pandit will officiate, with Virender Sharma as TV umpire. Andy Pycroft will serve as match referee.&nbsp;The game will be played under floodlights in a 20-over format, with an interval between innings.&nbsp;Political context and rivalry Historically, India-Pakistan cricket matches carry political and emotional significance beyond the sport. The rivalry has been marked by tension in recent years, with incidents such as India&rsquo;s players not shaking hands with Pakistan&rsquo;s team after their group match this tournament.&nbsp;&nbsp;The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) spoke about breaches in conduct and governance by the Indian side. However, the International Cricket Council (ICC) found no protocol violations in the disputed incidents.&nbsp;Group A points table<table id="isPasted"><thead><tr><td style="width: 30.5383%;">Team</td><td style="width: 22.2561%;">Matches Played</td><td style="width: 8.6877%;">Wins</td><td style="width: 10.428%;">Losses</td><td style="width: 9.6581%;">Points</td><td style="width: 18.3812%;">Net Run Rate</td></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td style="width: 30.5383%;">India</td><td style="width: 22.2561%;">3</td><td style="width: 8.6877%;">3</td><td style="width: 10.428%;">0</td><td style="width: 9.6581%;">6</td><td style="width: 18.3812%;">3.547</td></tr><tr><td style="width: 30.5383%;">Pakistan</td><td style="width: 22.2561%;">3</td><td style="width: 8.6877%;">2</td><td style="width: 10.428%;">1</td><td style="width: 9.6581%;">4</td><td style="width: 18.3812%;">1.790</td></tr><tr><td style="width: 30.5383%;">United Arab Emirates</td><td style="width: 22.2561%;">3</td><td style="width: 8.6877%;">1</td><td style="width: 10.428%;">2</td><td style="width: 9.6581%;">2</td><td style="width: 18.3812%;">-1.984</td></tr><tr><td style="width: 30.5383%;">Oman</td><td style="width: 22.2561%;">3</td><td style="width: 8.6877%;">0</td><td style="width: 10.428%;">3</td><td style="width: 9.6581%;">0</td><td style="width: 18.3812%;">-2.600</td></tr></tbody></table>&nbsp;The Asia Cup final is scheduled for September 28.

The Asia Cup final is scheduled for September 28.

Articles tagged with "Shaheen Shah Afridi"

Pakistan edge South Africa in tense ODI finish in Faisalabad

Shaheen Afridi named ODI captain; will lead Pakistan against South Africa

India-Pakistan Asia Cup showdown: Politics fuels drama