Babar Azam: South Africa vs Pakistan, 1st ODI: Wanted to play to my strengths, says Babar Azam | Cricket News – Times of India

CENTURION: Pakistan skipper Babar Azam, who scored a century within the first ODI in opposition to South Africa, mentioned that he needed to play on his strengths and construct a partnership with opener Imam-ul-Haq to take his facet over the road.
Rassie van der Dussen’s ton went in useless as Pakistan survived Anrich Nortje’s spell to beat South Africa by three wickets within the first ODI of the three-match collection on Friday. (SCORECARD)
The second sport might be performed on Sunday at The Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg.

South Africa have been diminished to 55/4, however the hosts recovered effectively thanks to David Miller’s fifty and van der Dussen’s hundred. The Proteas posted 273 of their 50 overs.
However, Azam’s masterclass ton (103) and gutsy knock by Mohammad Rizwan (40) and Shadab Khan (33) ensured the guests did not falter of their chase, which noticed too many twists and turns.
Pakistan did not have a great begin as they misplaced Fakhar Zaman within the third over however skipper Azam and Imam-ul-Haq (70) stitched a 177-run stand to revive the innings.

“When I went in, I just wanted to play to my strengths. I was hoping to get a partnership with Imam and we got a big one. To be honest, when the wickets fell, I was nervous and the pressure was on with that Nortje spell, and he bowled extremely well. Hopefully, we will learn from our mistakes. We need to take the confidence from this win into the next game and hopefully close [out] the series,” Azam mentioned after the match.
The visiting skipper additionally lauded his bowlers for proscribing the hosts at 273 regardless of Van der Dussen’s unbeaten 123.
“The wicket had a bit of moisture and we tried to utilize that, so credit to our bowlers for capitalising on that with the new ball. They took wickets in the powerplay and restricted them to 270-odd. I just told the bowlers to hit the hard length and not bowl boundary balls. We stuck to our plan and restricted them,” he mentioned.