Hendricks Shines as South Africa Scores 194 Against Pakistan in the 1st T20I

South Africa has scored a big total of 194 against Pakistan in the 1st T20I at Rawalpindi. Reeza Hendricks remained their star batter, as he played a brilliant knock of 60 runs off just 40 balls. South Africa looked well set to go past 200 on the board until Pakistan managed to pull things back with some smart bowling during the middle overs.

After winning the toss, Pakistan decided to bowl first. They knew the conditions of the ground and how it could support batters in the 2nd innings while chasing the target. The pitch looked good for batting, as there were no grass or cracks present on the surface.

South Africa came into the game by bolstering their lineup with the return of Quinton de Kock. They started the innings well by taking down the Pakistan bowlers aggressively. Both de Kock and Reeza Hendricks showed their class, as they smashed several boundaries with full authority.

Quinton de Kock was looking dangerous until he got out in the 4th over while trying to hit Saim Ayub. He made a quick 23 runs, giving South Africa a good start in the Powerplay.

The dismissal of de Kock didn’t change South Africa’s plans, as Reeza Hendricks and Tony de Zorzi kept on playing positively. They built a strong partnership that allowed the Proteas to resettle in the middle after losing de Kock in the Powerplay.

Tony de Zorzi was looking in good touch, but he got out in the 8th on a smart delivery of Mohammad Nawaz. Soon after that, Dewald Brevis also lost his wicket after making just 9 runs.

These successive blows allowed Pakistan to come back into the game, as they exerted more pressure on the incoming batters. Both Matthew Breetzke and Donovan Ferreira went back to the pavilion without making any notable contributions to the scoreboard.

This was the time when the South African innings was going into disarray, but the arrival of George Linde once again gave them a solid base. He played smartly alongside Hendricks to steady the South African innings. Due to his hitting, South Africa got the acceleration at the right time, allowing them to march toward a big total.

In the end, they managed to score 194 in the 1st innings, giving Pakistan a big total to chase. Now, it would be interesting to see how Pakistan will start their batting, as South Africa will come hard at the home team by utilizing their specialist bowling resources.