Karachi, 8 September 2023: Despite their dominating performance during the recently concluded T20I series, where they completed a whitewash against South Africa, Pakistan could not put up a considerable fight against the visitors in the first ODI, losing the game by a big margin.
South Africa won the toss and chose to bat first. Pakistan spinners, Nashra Sundhu and Umm-e-Hani, got early success when they got the wickets of Tazmin Brits and Laura Wolvaardt respectively. Aliya Riaz pitched in and got Lara Goodall out. With three down within the powerplay, it felt like South Africa would be forced to go on the backfoot. However, a glorious partnership of 183 runs between Marizanne Kapp and Sune Luus brought them to a commanding position. Luus, who remained unbeaten, got to her maiden ODI century, whereas Kapp scored her second ODI century. It was Nashra who eventually broke this partnership, but by then the damage had been done. By the end of the first innings, South Africa had produced a mammoth total of 292, that proved too big an ask for the hosts.
Pakistan, with a big chase ahead, got off to a nervous start. Shawaal Zulfiqar, on debut, fell victim to Ayabonga Khaka in the sixth over. Bismah Maroof, only having scored 10 runs, also lost her wicket in the powerplay. Quickly after that, the wickets of Sidra Amin and Nida Dar followed. For a short while, it felt like Muneeba Ali was getting comfortable enough to salvage the damage done by South Africa, however, she lost her wicket soon after. Pakistan found themselves 69-5 in 17 overs. Sidra Nawaz and Aliya Riaz tried to rebuild the innings; a partnership of 42 runs between the two stabilized the scorecard for Pakistan until Nonkululeko Mlaba got Sidra out.
Despite Aliya’s fighting knock, Pakistan could not close the gap, with wickets continuously falling on the other end. Pakistan were bowled out for 165, with the visitors comfortably winning by 127 runs.
Scores in brief
South Africa win by 127 runs
South Africa: 292-4, 50 overs (Sune Luus 107 not out, Marizanne Kapp 100; Nashra Sundhu 2-50)
Pakistan: 165 all out, 36.5 overs (Aliya Riaz 49 not out; Nadine de Klerk 3-23, Nonkululeku Mlaba 3-39)
Player of the match: Marizanne Kapp (South Africa)
