The decider of the Pakistan vs South Africa T20I series 2025 was played at Gaddafi stadium Lahore, where Babar lead the way for Pakistan and won the series by 2-1 beating South Africa by 4 wickets.
After losing the first match in Rawalpindi, Pakistan bounced back with two consecutive wins and seal the series.
South Africa began with series with much batter control, but failed to carry forward that momentum.
Toss and South Africa’s Inning
Pakistan’s captain Salman Agha won the toss, and elected to bowl first. The decision of bowling first was proved right by Shaheen Afridi in first over when he took 2 wickets on consecutive balls.
South Africa lost two wickets without scoring any runs. De Kock and Pretorius contributed nothing to the South African inning. Shaheen Afridi got both of them in firs over.
There was small recovering partnership between Reeze Hendricks 34(36) and Dewald Bravis of 38 runs before Usman Tariq struck and took the wicket of Bravis 21(22).
South Africa failed to build a partnership, and finished at 139/9 in 20 overs. Skipper Donovan Ferreira played a cameo of 29(14) runs hitting 3 sixes in the inning. Corbin Bosch scored 30(23) runs at lower order, and South Africa managed to finish at 139.
From Pakistan’s bowling side Shaheen took 3/26 in 4 overs, best figure for Pakistan in this match. Also Shaheen bowled really well in this series. Faheem Ashram who awarded as a Player of the series award took 2 wickets in his 4 overs quota and conceded 28 runs. Usman Tariq also bowled well with finishing 2/26 in his 4 overs.
Pakistan’s Chase : Babar leads the way
Corbin Bosch struck early and removed Saim Ayub 0(6). Then Babar Azam came in, and built the partnership with Sahibzada Farhan. There was 36 runs stand between Babar and Sahibzada which was crucial runs in this low scoring chase.
After Sahibzada 19(18) departs, Babar and Captain Salman Agha had a partnership of 76 runs which took the game away from South Africa and ensures the win for Pakistan. Babar lead the way, and showed the composure, experience and his class. However, the target was not massive, but it was very good and much needed inning from Babar Azam. Babar scored 68 runs in 47 balls with strike rate of almost 144 and hit 9 boundaries. On the other hand Salman Agha played his style of game and scored 33 runs in 26 balls.
From South Africa’s bowling side, Corbin Bosch 2/24 and Lizaad Williams 2/26 both took 2-2 wickets and bowled really economical.
🧩 What This Means Going Forward
For Pakistan, this victory boosts morale heading into future series and upcoming ODI series against South Africa where Shaheen Afridi now leading Pakistan which is commencing on November 4th. This was much needed win for Pakistan after Asia Cup campaign to boost the morale of team and Pakistan team’s fans.
For South Africa, it’s a reminder that adaptability remains their biggest challenge in Asian conditions. It was young South African team, missing their key players. But for this young gun there was lot of learning and experience in this series.
Pakistan vs South Africa T20I series 2025: Final Words
After Asia Cup loss, there was pressure on Pakistan’s team, management and T20 captain Salman Agha. In Asia Cup squad they dropped Babar and Rizwan, and they faced lot of backlash for that. They included the Babar in T20 squad again, and it made the difference for them at least in this series, but they should find their combination soon and should play with that combination in upcoming matches, because there is no much time left in World Cup T20 2026.
While South Africa has tested their bench strength as well, now they should be clear as well what players they are going to invest going forward.
Leave your thoughts about this series and upcoming ODI series.
