Brilliant half-centuries from Graeme Smith and Shaun Pollock helped South Africa win the fourth one-day international by seven wickets here on Friday to level the five-match series 2-2.
Pakistan's total of 230-9, built around a fighting 110-ball 82 from Younis Khan, had looked respectable, but Smith (81) and Pollock (90) added 159 runs for the second wicket stand to help their team reach 233-3 in 37.4 overs.
It was Smith and Herschelle Gibbs (39) who put on a brisk 65 for the first wicket to provide the perfect platform for the chase, which left a packed crowd at Multan Stadium disappointed. The 34-year-old all-rounder Pollock hit nine boundaries and a six during his 84-ball knock, while Smith hit seven boundaries during his 103-ball stay.
Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik blamed his team's poor bowling. "We did struggle in batting but we thought it was a good score but we didn't bowl well," he said. The fifth and final one-day will be played in Lahore on Monday.
SCOREBOARD:
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PAKISTAN
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Yasir Hameed c Gibbs b Pollock 10
Shahid Afridi c Nel b Ntini 0
Younis Khan c Gibbs b Nel 82
Mohammad Yousuf run out 5
Shoaib Malik c Smith b Kallis 45
Misbah-ul Haq c Boucher b Nel 7
Kamran Akmal c Pollock b Botha 28
Abdul Rehman b Morkel 31
Rao Iftikhar not out 2
Umar Gul c Ntini b Botha 1
Mohammad Asif not out 0
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Extras: (lb13, nb1, w5) 19
Total: (for nine wkts) 230
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Fall of wickets: 1-2 (Afridi), 2-20 (Hameed), 3-38 (Yousuf), 4-129 (Malik), 5-158 (Younis), 6-159 (Haq), 7-219 (Rehman), 8-227 (Akmal), 9-229 (Gul).
Bowling: Pollock 10-0-37-1, Ntini 10-0-26-1, Morkel 10-0-54-1, Nel 9-0-44-2, Botha 8-0-41-2, Kallis 3-0-15-1.
Overs: 50
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SOUTH AFRICA
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G. Smith c Rehman b Iftikhar 81
H. Gibbs lbw b Afridi 39
S. Pollock c Malik b Iftikhar 90
J. Kallis not out 6
AB de Villiers not out 1
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Extras: (lb8, nb3, w5) 16
Total: (for three wkts) 233
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Did not bat: J. Duminy, M. Boucher, A. Morkel, J. Botha, A. Nel, M. Ntini.
Fall of wickets: 1-65 (Gibbs), 2-224 (Pollock), 3-228 (Smith).
Bowling: Asif 8-0-64-0, Gul 5-0-52-0, Iftikhar 5.4-0-27-2, Afridi 9-0-43-1, Rehman 10-0-39-0
Overs: 37.4
Result: South Africa won by seven wickets
Toss: Pakistan
Umpires: Billy Bowden (NZL) and Aleem Dar (PAK)
TV umpire: Zamir Haider (PAK)
Match Referee: Alan Hurst (AUS).
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