Pakistan’s white-ball captain Mohammad Rizwan received a lot of heat from the Pakistan fans after the 11-run loss in the first T20I against South Africa.
Chasing 184 runs, Pakistan managed 172-8 and lost the game. Skipper Mohammad Rizwan stayed on the crease for 19.2 overs. He scored 74 off 62 deliveries at a strike rate of only 119.35. At one point, the wicket-keeper batter was on 46 runs off 49 deliveries.
Rizwan’s slow innings frustrated the Pakistani fans, who made sure to let it out on social media. Former skipper Babar Azam was dismissed for a 4-ball duck in the third over of the innings. Youngster Saim Ayub showed some promise, scoring 31 off just 15 deliveries.
None of the other Pakistan batters could manage to score even 20 runs. Tayyab Tahir was the third-highest run-scorer for Pakistan with a run-a-ball 18. Earlier, South Africa scored 183-9 batting first thanks to an excellent effort from David Miller (82 off 40). George Linde was the star of the game for the Proteas. He scored 48 runs at a strike rate of 200 and then picked up 4 wickets with the ball.
Fans demand to drop Mohammad Rizwan from the team
Fans, disappointed by the performance of their captain demanded to drop Rizwan from the T20I setup. Some opposition fans also said that watching his innings was ‘frustrating’ even for them as well.
Rizwan’s decision to bowl Sufiyan Muqeem in the last over of South Africa’s inning is under scrutiny as well. Linde hit 3 sixes in the last over and eventually that was the difference between the two sides.
Pakistani fans blamed the captain for the loss in the first T20I. Rizwan played a few shots towards the end of the innings but it was too late till then. He got out in the last over with 19 runs required to win the game.
Kwena Maphaka picked up 2 wickets for the Proteas with Ottniel Baartman and Andile Simelane picking up one wicket each. It was a collective bowling effort from the hosts.
