Pakistan bag consolation win as South Africa secure T20I series 2-1

2026-02-17 - 09:46

Pakistan Women thrashed South Africa Women by 53 runs in the third T20I at the Willowmoore Park, Benoni, to bag a consolation victory. The hosts secured the T20I series 2-1 after winning the first two games. It is Pakistan’s sixth-largest winning margin in women’s T20Is and largest against South Africa. The hosts succumbed to their second-lowest T20I total, 91 all out, in the last four years. All-rounder Marizanne Kapp was absent due to injury. Pakistan will now face South Africa in a three-match ODI series slated to be played on February 22, 25 and March 1 and will warm up with a 50-over practice match on February 19. Fatima first struck 47 not out to help Pakistan recover from 68-5 to 144-7 in 20 overs and then took two wickets in the powerplay to put South Africa under pressure early on. She won her second player of the series award and only the third player of the match award in T20Is after scoring 146 runs and taking two wickets in the series. South Africa lost Tazmin Brits to Fatima for a duck on the third ball after their chase got underway, before Lara Goodall and Dane van Niekerk both fell prey to left-arm spinner Sadia Iqbal in a space of three balls in the fourth over. Soon after Fatima’s strike to remove her counterpart Laura Wolvaardt for a run-a-ball 11 pushed South Africa to 30-4 in 4.1 overs. At this juncture, Annerie Dercksen (30) and Nadine de Klerk (27) got together to put on a 55-run stand, which brought down the equation to 60 needed off 31 balls. Dercksen was run out in the 15th over, while De Klerk was removed by Ayesha Zafar in the subsequent over as Pakistan took five for six, including two run outs, to wrap up South Africa’s innings in 16.5 overs. For Pakistan, Sadia returned figures of 3.5-0-18-3, while Fatima’s two wickets came for 12 runs in three overs. Earlier, Pakistan lost opening batter Muneeba Ali and Gull Feroza early before Sidra Amin (26) and Ayesha Zafar (19) took Pakistan to 46-2 at the end of the powerplay. Sidra and Ayesha’s 38-run stand ended in the seventh over, while Pakistan found themselves 61-4 at the halfway mark and 68-5 in 11.2 overs. Fatima (47 not out, 30b, 4x4s, 2x6s) and Aliya Riaz (26, 25b, 3x4s) then stitched a game-changing 45-ball 70-run stand as Pakistan posted 144-7. South Africa’s Nonkululeko Mlaba, Ayabonga Khaka and Msabata Klaas picked up one wicket each. ODI series schedule: 50-over warm-up match – 19 February – Kimberley Oval, Kimberley (day) 1st ODI – 22 February – Mangaung Oval, Bloemfontein (day) 2nd ODI – 25 February – SuperSport Park, Centurion (day/night) 3rd ODI – 1 March – Kingsmead Stadium, Durban (day) Lahore beat Karachi to lift National U15 One-Day Cup