South Africa beat Pakistan Shaheens in Champions Trophy warm-up

KARACHI: A combined batting effort helped South Africa to a three-wicket victory over Pakistan Shaheens in the third warm-up match of the ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025 here at the National Bank Stadium on Monday.

Set to chase a daunting 323-run target, the Proteas comfortably knocked the winning runs for the loss of seven wickets and six balls to spare.

Leading the way for them were Rassie van der Dussen (62), Ryan Rickelton (57), Tony de Zorzi (55) and Aiden Markram (54), who scored anchoring half-centuries.

Meanwhile, all-rounder Wiaan Mulder gave the final touches with a swashbuckling cameo of 42 from 30 deliveries with the help of three fours and as many sixes.

For the Shaheens, Niaz Khan and Mehran Mumtaz bagged two wickets each.

Batting first, the Shaheens accumulated 322/8 in the allotted 50 overs despite Wiaan Mulder’s 3/27.

The home side got off to a decent start to their innings as Huraira and Hassan Nawaz added 50 runs for the first wicket until the latter fell victim to Wiaan Mulder.

Following the early hiccup experienced top-order batter Imam joined Huraira in the middle and put the hosts in a commanding position with a 163-run partnership.

The marathon stand culminated with Huraira getting cleaned up by Marco Jansen after scoring 110 off 114 deliveries, studded with 12 fours and a six.

Imam was then involved in a brief partnership for the third wicket with Qasim Akram (four) before having an agonizing end to his sensible knock as he was run out by Rassie van der Dussen just two shy from his century.

The left-handed batter smashed six fours and a six on his way to a 94-ball 98.

Middle-order batter Maaz Sadaqat and Saad Khan then knitted a crucial 48-run partnership for the fifth wicket to keep the Shaheens in contention of putting a big total on the board.

Sadaqat scored 28 off 30 deliveries, while Saad made a quickfire 30 off just 16 deliveries with the help of three fours and a six.

Mulder was the standout bowler for South Africa, taking three wickets, followed by Jansen with two, while Lungi Ngidi and Tabraiz Shamsi chipped in with one scalp apiece.