(Reuters) – Saim Ayub scored 101 from 94 balls as a dominant Pakistan completed a clean sweep of their One-Day International series in South Africa with victory by 36 runs in the third and final clash at The Wanderers on Sunday.
South Africa asked the tourists to bat in a game reduced to 47 overs per side due to rain and Pakistan amassed 308 for nine, boosted by Saim’s second century of the series and his third in nine ODIs.
Babar Azam (52 from 71 balls), captain Mohammad Rizwan (53 from 52) and Salman Agha (48 from 33) all provided useful contributions in support of Saim as Pakistan took advantage of a largely inexperienced home bowling attack.
South Africa had their target reduced by one run to 308 via the Duckworth–Lewis–Stern method but lost wickets at regular intervals, though series top scorer Heinrich Klaasen kept them in the game with 81 from 43 balls.
They were bowled out with five overs remaining as debutant Corbin Bosch was left stranded on 40 not out from 44 balls.
The teams start a two-match test series in Pretoria on Thursday. South Africa need to win one of those fixtures to guarantee a place in next year’s World Test Championship final at Lord’s.
(Reporting by Nick Said; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
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