South Africa defeat Pakistan by 6 wickets in 2nd T20I

Aiden Markram's second fifty in succession on Monday helped South Africa beat Pakistan by 6 wickets in the second T20 international in Johannesburg to level the 3-match series 1-1.

Markram scored 54 while captain Heinrich Klaasen remained unbeaten on 36 to guide the Proteas to victory as they chased down 141 in 14 overs to bounce back in the series. George Linde also made a useful contribution with 20 not out off 17 balls.

Usman Qadir bagged a couple of wickets for 26 runs while Mohammad Hasnain and Hasan Ali took one each but the Proteas never really looked like they had any issues dealing with the Pakistani attack on a good batting pitch at the Wanderers.

Klaasen and Linde's unbeaten 49-run partnership was the biggest in the chase for the Proteas. Linde was adjudged Player of the Match for



his all-round effort.

"It's never easy bowling in the Powerplay as a spinner. We had a couple of game plans and I'm just glad it worked out well for us.

"Personally it was a big confidence booster because I didn't bowl that well the previous game. When I got that, I was just trying to keep that momentum. We chased it down in 14 overs so it was a good game for us all-round," Linde said after the match.

Earlier, a fifty from captain Babar Azam and a good hand of 32 by veteran Mohammad Hafeez helped the visitors reach 140 for 9 after opting to bat first.

Babar and Hafeez shared a 58-run partnership for the fourth-wicket but their dismissals proved to be Pakistan's downfall as none of their other batsmen could manage to score more than 12 runs with 7 players getting out in single-figures.