De Kock revives international career with a century as South Africa thrashes Pakistan in 2nd ODI

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FAISALABAD, Pakistan (AP) — Quinton de Kock revived his international career with a fluent 22nd ODI century as South Africa hammered Pakistan by eight wickets in the second match and leveled the series 1-1 on Tuesday.

The left-handed de Kock, who reversed his 2023 ODI retirement before the white-ball series in Pakistan, smashed an unbeaten 123 off 119 balls in the Proteas' chase of 270-2 in 40.1 overs.

Fast bowler Nandre Burger (4-46) and leg-spinner Nqabayomzi Peter (3-55) -- the two changes South Africa made from its narrow loss in the first ODI – had picked up career-best figures to restrict Pakistan to 269-9 after South Africa lost its seventh consecutive toss on the tour.

The third and final match of the series is on Saturday at Faisalabad, which is hosting international games for the first time in 17 years.

The South African opening pair of de Kock and 19-year-old Lhuan-dre Pretorious (46) got engaged in yet another aggressive stand of 81 runs off 71 balls as Pakistan's fast bowlers erred repeatedly in hitting the right lengths.

Naseem Shah couldn’t hold on to a sharp return catch in his follow through that could have dismissed Pretorious on 18 as the left-hander smashed seven boundaries and a six before Mohammad Wasim found the outside edge and denied Pretorious a half century.

Nawaz then gave de Kock a reprieve on 15 when he grassed a catch at deep mid-wicket and the pace bowlers consistently found it difficult to control the wet ball because of dew.

De Zorzi took his time but carried his test match form into white-ball cricket with an entertaining 153-run stand off 137 balls with de Kock as Pakistan’s newly installed ODI skipper Shaheen Shah Afridi struggled to get the breakthrough.

Pakistan’s decision to leave out specialist spinners also didn’t go in its favor as off-spinners Saim Ayub and Salman Ali Agha conceded 46 runs off their combined 6.1 overs without getting any success.

Afridi used eight bowlers, but de Zorzi and de Kock unleashed boundaries at will in a rapid Proteas chase. De Kock completed his century off 96 balls with seven fours and six sixes when he drove Wasim to wide mid-on for two runs in the 31st over. Pakistan had a below-par day in the outfield as Faheem Ashraf dropped de Zorzi soon after he had completed his half century.

De Zorzi, who struck seven sixes and eight fours, missed out on a century when he tried to flick Ashraf but got a leading catch and was caught at point for 76 off 63 balls before de Kock and captain Matthew Breetzke took the Proteas home with nearly 10 overs to spare.

“It’s nice to be back with the team, the extra responsibility is good,” de Kock said. “I haven’t batted with a lot of these guys before, but it’s great to make new friends. The guys have batted really nicely in the last two games, nice and clinical performances.”

Burger, who replaced Lungi Ngidi, rattled Pakistan's top order with his pace and picked up three wickets with the new ball as the hosts slumped to 3-22 inside the first five overs. Corbin Bosch also troubled the batters with his sharp pace.

Fakhar Zaman gloved Burger’s short ball to a diving de Kock behind the wickets in the first over before the fast bowler found the outside edge of premier batter Babar Azam, who yet again struggled with 11 off 13 balls. Mohammad Rizwan dragged another short ball back onto the stumps.

Salman Ali Agha followed his half century in the first match with 69 and shared a 92-run stand with Saim Ayub, who made 53 off 66 balls. But South Africa's bowlers didn’t allow the Pakistani batters to gain any momentum as Bosch dismissed both Ayub and Agha in his return spell to finish with 2-58.

Nawaz upped the ante with his run-a-ball 59 while Ashraf made a quickfire 28 off 18 balls and Pakistan showed some late intent in the last 10 overs by scoring 90 runs, which included a 22-run final over bowled by Peter.

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