An imperious opening spell from Shaheen Shah Afridi, followed by a clinical chase from Babar Azam, helped Pakistan claim a four-wicket win in Lahore and seal a 2-1 T20I series victory over South Africa.

Afridi set the tone in the very first over, dismissing Quinton de Kock and Lhuan-dre Pretorius for ducks, before debutant Usman Tariq picked up his maiden wicket, getting Dewald Brevis caught at long-on.

South Africa’s chase never really picked up from there, though stand-in captain Donovan Ferreira (29 off 14) and Corbin Bosch (30 not out) played helpful cameos to lift South Africa to 139/9.

Faheem Ashraf chipped in with two wickets, as did Tariq, while Afridi rounded off his three-fer in the penultimate over, getting Lizaad Williams (five) caught at midwicket.

In the second innings, Babar shepherded Pakistan’s chase with a composed half-century, finishing on 68 off 47 after Saim Ayub was dismissed in the second over.

Bosch was the pick of South Africa’s bowlers, adding to his positive batting cameo with a strong spell (2-24).

But Salman Agha (33 off 26) played an important role at the other end as Pakistan’s former captain and current captain stitched together a vital 76-run partnership to seal a comfortable victory.

 Pakistan seal the Bank Alfalah Presents KFC Pakistan vs South Africa T20I Series 2025 (2–1) 🏏#PAKvSA | #GreenPeYaqeen | #BackTheBoysInGreen pic.twitter.com/KNWnAnmWhi

— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) November 1, 2025

Data Debrief: Babar treats fans to a Lahore special

With his impressive knock of 68, Babar has now scored 40 T20I half-centuries, breaking Virat Kohli’s previous record (39).

Babar reached the milestone of 40 fifties inside 124 innings, becoming the first-ever Pakistan batter to achieve the feat.

In total, he struck nine fours in a brilliant display of ground-hitting, at a strike-rate of 144.68.