South Africa thrashed Pakistan by six wickets in the first Twenty20 international in Abu Dhabi.Paceman Lonwabo Tsotsobe and captain Johan Botha took three wickets apiece as Pakistan, for whom this is a home series, were limited to 119 all out.Misbah-ul-Haq made an undefeated, 32-ball 27 while skipper Shahid Afridi hit 25 off only seven deliveries.JP Duminy hit 41 and Colin Ingram 46 not out as South Africa reached their target with 10 balls to spare.South Africa left out star men Dale Steyn and Jacques Kallis and made an untidy start, with Albie Morkel’s first over going for 14 including four separate wides.Tsotsobe, by contrast, delivered a superb opening over which yielded only one run and led to Imran Farhat (10) swiping wildly to Graeme Smith at slip.Shahzaib Hasan followed in the sixth over with the score on 38 as a steepling miscue off Tsotsobe was brilliantly held by Duminy running back from point.Rusty Theron removed Mohammad Hafeez (13) but new man Afridi hoisted his first ball wide of long-on for six.The captain then clubbed successive sixes off Botha before heaving the next delivery down Loots Bosman’s throat.
Umar Akmal (14) became the leading run-scorer in T20 internationals this year but pulled Albie Morkel straight to mid-wicket, and Abdul Razzaq and Zulqarnain Haider quickly followed to leave Pakistan 91-7.
Misbah smashed three full tosses to the ropes in the last two overs but the rest of the tail offered little.South Africa slipped to 26-3 as Shoaib Akhtar removed Bosman and AB de Villiers in the same over, but Duminy and Ingram rebuilt and brought up their 50 partnership in 7.3 overs.The former departed when Akmal took a good diving catch off Saeed Ajmal’s bowling but Ingram remained with David Miller (13 not out) to ensure victory.
The two teams play the second Twenty20 at Abu Dhabi Stadium on Wednesday ahead of the first of two one-day internationals at the same venue on Friday.The series then moves to Dubai where the last three one-day matches and the first Test will be staged. Abu Dhabi will host the second Test – Bbc
