Pakistan vs South Africa, 2021: 1st T20I - Pakistan’s stunning record at home, Rizwan’s records, Babar’s failure and more stats

Pakistan registered a thrilling victory against South Africa in the first T20I of the 3-match series. They defeated South Africa by a margin of just 3 runs and now have taken a 1-0 lead in the series. Wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Rizwan hit a match-winning century for the hosts in the match. 

Earlier, South Africa captain Heinrich Klaasen won the toss and decided to bowl first. Pakistan lost their captain Babar Azam in the very first over, who was run-out for a duck. Young Haider Ali who came to bat at number three impressed with his six-hitting abilities, but didn’t survive long at the crease. Mohammad Rizwan who came to open continued to score runs at one end, while wickets kept falling from the other.

Rizwan scored a magnificent century hitting an unbeaten 104 off 64 balls with 6 fours and 7 sixes in his unbeaten knock. Chasing this target, South Africa had a good start with both their openers scoring in excess of 40 runs. Among them, Janemann Malan hit 44 runs off 29 balls, while Reeza Hendricks scored a half-century scoring 54 runs off 42 balls.

The middle-order for South Africa could not capitalise on the good start, and the team looked to be struggling at one stage. In the end, Dwaine Pretorius and Bjorn Fortuin did some fine hitting, but it was not enough to ensure a victory. South Africa posted a total of 166/6 in 20 overs, and lost the match by 3 runs. Usman Qadir was the most successful bowler for Pakistan who took 2 wickets while giving away only 21 runs off 4 overs.

Let’s look at some important numbers and stats after the end of the first T20I between the two teams:

Pakistan’s impeccable record at home

7 – Pakistan have now played 7 T20I matches at home without losing. Since 2020, they have won 6 matches at home among while one match was abandoned. Among the six wins, three have come against Zimbabwe, 2 against Bangladesh and 1 against South Africa.

Misery continues for South Africa in T20Is

5 – South Africa have now lost 5 consecutive matches in T20I format. They lost their last series against England by a margin of 0-3. Before that, they lost to Australia 1-2 in a 3-match series.

Babar falls behind

49.44 – Babar Azam had an average of over 50 in T20Is before this match, but that isn’t the case now as he got out for a duck. Indian Captain Virat Kohli is now the only player to have an average of over 50 in T20Is with a minimum of 1000 runs.

Rizwan create new milestones

1- Mohammad Rizwan became the first wicketkeeper from Pakistan to score a hundred in T20 Internationals. 

2- Rizwan has become just the second player from Pakistan to hit a century in all three formats in international cricket. Ahmed Shahzad is the other player from their country to hit a century in Tests, ODIs, and T20Is. 

Also Read: Records Rizwan created with his century

2- Mohammad Rizwan has become only the second wicketkeeper in the world after Brendon Mccullum to hit a century in all three formats in international cricket. Rizwan had hit his first Test century against South Africa in the recently concluded Test series. 

5 – Mohammad Rizwan became the fifth wicketkeeper in the world to hit a century in T20I cricket. The other wicket-keepers in this list include Brendon McCullum, Mohammad Shahzad, Morne van Wyk, and Leslie Dunbar.