Reeza Hendricks powered South Africa to victory with his maiden T20 century, smashing 117 off 63 balls. His stunning knock helped the Proteas chase down 210 for three with three balls to spare.
Pakistan put up a strong fight, scoring 206 for five, thanks to opener Saim Ayub’s brilliant unbeaten 98 off 57 balls. Unfortunately, he missed out on his maiden T20 century, as he didn’t get a chance to face the final nine balls of the innings.
With this win, South Africa sealed the series 2-0, marking their first T20 series victory since August 2022. The match also set a record for the most combined runs (416) in the 17-year history of T20 clashes between the two teams.
Hendricks, a key part of South Africa’s T20 squad for 10 years, had been struggling with form recently. But with the Proteas at 28 for two after four overs, he stepped up. “First over, five dots and got away, and so the moment I got that away, things started to click,” Hendricks said. “I’m happy that I found the middle and things worked out in the end.”
Hendricks smashed 10 sixes and seven fours, targeting the shorter leg-side boundary with powerful pulls, flicks, and sweeps. His 157-run stand with Rassie van der Dussen was chanceless until the 18th over, when he was caught near midwicket off Abbas Afridi’s delivery.
