Pakistan visited South Africa in the month of April 2021 for playing 3 ODIs, and 4 T20s series from 2 April to 16 April 2021. The tournament between the two nations started with the 3 ODI matches series on 2nd April 2021. The first One Day International of the bilateral series RSA vs Pak 2021 was played at SuperSport Park, Centurion on 2 April 2021. In the first ODI, Danish Aziz made his ODI debut for Pakistan. Pakistan wanted to bowl first and they did it after winning the toss. Aiden Markram for South Africa who was out for a long duration came back in for South Africa and opened with Quinton de Kock. South Africa did not get a good start but Rassie van der Dussen struck 123 runs and David Miller’s fifty helped them to reach a respectable total of 273/6. Pakistan needed 274 runs to win and they achieved it very well. After losing Fakhar Zaman so early, Imam-ul-Haq and Babar Azam controlled the situation and made the target achievable. Pakistan’s captain Babar Azam scored a match-winning inning of 103 runs and Imam-ul-Haq also contributed crucial 70 runs. Pakistan started the tournament with a victory and led the series by 1-0. Babar Azam was the Man of the Match.
The second ODI was played at The Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg on 4 April 2021. Pakistan again decided to have the bowl in hand first after winning the toss. South Africa wanted to come back and they played with that attitude and set a big target of 342 runs for Pakistan. South Africa’s four batsmen, Quinton de Kock, Temba Bavuma, Rassie van der Dussen, and David Miller struck fifty each in the inning. Pakistan’s Fakhar Zaman was awesome with the bat but his 193 runs were not enough to get the target. No other batsmen could make more than 31 runs in the Pakistan squad and lost the 2nd ODI by 17 runs. Fakhar Zaman broke the record of Herchelle Gibbs’ 175 runs and became the highest scorer in the chase. The series was level by 1-1. Fakhar Zaman was named Man of the Match.
The third ODI, the decider was played at SuperSport Park, Centurion on 7 April 2021. For South Africa, Rassie van der Dussen was out because of a quadricep strain and Pakistan also lost Shadab Khan due to a toe injury. South Africa went for the bowl first after winning the toss. The hero of the 2nd ODI, Fakhar Zaman again showed his great form and made 101 runs off 104 balls with his partners Imam-ul-Haq and Babar Azam. Then the rest of the work was completed by Babar Azam’s 94 runs. Pakistan gave a tough target of 321 runs to win the series. South Africa tried well as Janneman Malan contributed 79 runs, and Kyle Verreynne & Andile Pheplukwayo made half-century each but that was not enough to get the target. Shaheen Shah Afridi and Mohammad Nawaz got the 3 wickets each in the match. Pakistan won the match by 28 runs and also won the 3 matches South Africa vs Pakistan 2021 series. Babar Azam was named Man of the Match.
Fakhar Zaman was the highest scorer with 302 runs in the series and also named Man of the Series and Anrich Nortje became the highest wicket-taker with 7 wickets in the series.
