Fatima Sana's 90 in vain as South Africa clinch thriller

South Africa's collective batting performance, led by skipper Laura Wolvaardt's half-century, overshadowed her counterpart Fatima Sana's career-best knock as the hosts secured a 5-wicket win over Pakistan in a nail-biting first T20I at Senwes Park in Potchefstroom.

After being reduced to 64 for 6 at one stage, Sana single-handedly led Pakistan's comeback with a 41-ball 90, which included seven sixes, as the visitors posted a challenging 180/9 on the board. But South Africa got over the line off the last ball, with Wolvaardt (61 off 38), Sune Luus (32 off 20) and Kayla Reyneke (29* off 16) being the leading scorers for the home team.

It was a fine all-round show from Reyneke, who finished with excellent figures of 2 for 13 in four overs, including a maiden, after Pakistan opted to bat. Reyneke bagged the wickets of Gull Feroza and Natalia Pervaiz, while Ayanda Hlubi and Nonkululeko Mlaba were also doing damage from the other end, with both having double wicket overs in the first half of Pakistan's innings.

Sana, who came in at the fall of the sixth wicket in the 10th over, began a counterattack that lasted till the final ball of the innings. Mlaba's 19-run 16th over, Hlubi's 21-run 17th over and a 19-run last over from Ayabonga Khaka were some of the big overs in the latter half of the innings as Sana's knock. which included nine fours to go with her six barrage, took Pakistan to a good total.

South Africa's chase began positively with Tazmin Brits striking a couple of boundaries before getting out to Humna Bilal in the fourth over. Wolvaardt and Luus then took over, putting on a 62-run stand in quick time. Although Luus fell for 32, getting out to Nashra Sandhu, Wolvaardt kept the attack going, powering South Africa to 102 for 2 after 10 overs.

Wolvaardt brought up a 31-ball fifty with a six and a four off Umm-e-Hani in the 13th over before Pakistan staged a comeback with the ball. Wolvaardt was out stumped off Sandhu while Dane van Niekerk and Lara Goodall fell in quick succession. At the end of the 17th over, South Africa were 153/5, needing 28 more. Reyneke struck a six apiece off Ayesha Zafar and Sana to bring it to 10 off the last over. Bilal conceded six off her first three balls in the last over, including a boundary by Reyneke, who hit a six off the last ball with two needed for South Africa.

Brief scores: Pakistan 180/9 in 20 overs (Fatima Sana 90, Natalia Pervaiz 20; Ayanda Hlubi 3-41, Kayla Reyneke 2-13) lost to South Africa 185/5 in 20 overs (Laura Wolvaardt 61, Sune Luus 32, Kayla Reyneke 29*; Nashra Sandhu 2-27) by 5 wickets.