The Proteas struggled to a well below par 239-9 in the opening one-day international of the three-match series against Pakistan at Boland Park in Paarl on Tuesday afternoon.
After winning the toss and choosing to bat the hosts suffered two collapses at different stages of their innings, where they lost seven wickets for 25 runs in total over both, which severely stunted their progress.
Heinrich Klaasen top scored for the Proteas with an entertaining 86 off 97 balls (7×4; 2×6), while spinner Salman Aghar was the pick of the Pakistan bowlers with a career best 4-32 in eight overs.
The Proteas’ innings got off to a rollicking start thanks to openers Tony de Zorzi, 33 off 25 (6×4), and Ryan Rickelton, 36 off 38 (7×4), combining for a 70-run first-wicket partnership in the opening 10 overs.
De Zorzi was just getting into his flow as he cracked Aghar for three boundaries in the 10th over, only for him to miss a flick and be trapped LBW to become the first wicket to fall.
That sparked a collapse that saw the Proteas lose four wickets for 18 runs in a three over spell, all off Aghar, as Rickelton chopped on in his next over, followed by him bowling Rassie van der Dussen (8) and Tristan Stubbs (1) in the 14th as they crashed to 88-4.
That brought Klaasen in to join Aiden Markram (35) and they set about a rebuilding job with a 73-run fifth-wicket stand.
Both batters played carefully, although Klaasen was the aggressor while Markram rotated strike, as they took their side past the 100- and 150-run marks.
Markram had only managed one boundary in his 54-ball innings when he finally lost patience in the 32nd over.
He tried to hammer spinner Saim Ayub over midwicket but instead got a huge edge, with Kamran Ghulam tracking the ball well and taking a good catch, leaving them on 161-5.
Klaasen continued on his way as he dominated a 50-run partnership with Marco Jansen (10), who struggled immensely to get the ball away, facing 27 deliveries, in which he was also dropped, before he sent to ball straight down Shaheen Afridi’s throat at long-on off Abrar Ahmed, with the score 211-6.
That started a slide that saw three wickets tumble for seven runs, as Andile Phehlukwayo (1) hit Ahmed straight to Ayub at short midwicket, while Klaasen was finally dismissed, superbly bowled middle stump by Afridi, after smashing the pace bowler for a boundary the previous ball, as they slipped to 218-7.
Kagiso Rabada (11) and Ottneil Baartman (10*) crucially added 21 runs to the total as they saw out the final five and a half overs, with Rabada run out off the last ball of the innings.
SOUTH AFRICA: Tony de Zorzi, Ryan Rickelton, Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram (capt), Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen, Marco Jansen, Andile Phehlukwayo, Kagiso Rabada, Ottneil Baartman, Tabraiz Shamsi
PAKISTAN: Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan (capt, wk), Kamran Ghulam, Salman Agha, Irfan Khan, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed
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