De Klerk puts on a big show to script series win for South Africa

They might have swept the T20I series, but Pakistan are finding the ODIs a tougher nut to crack, conceding the series at the first time of asking, losing the second game by six wickets to fall 2-0 behind. The star of the show for South Africa on Monday was Nadine de Klerk, who first returned 4 for 32, and then hit a 30-ball 24 not out as South Africa chased down the modest 169-run target in 34 overs.

She wasn't the only star performer for South Africa on the day, though. When they bowled, after Pakistan opted to bat on winning the toss, Masabata Klaas and Ayabonga Khaka contributed with wickets, three and two respectively. And Tazmin Brits, Lara Goodall and Marizanne Kapp chipped in with the bat in the chase.

But de Klerk stood out. She picked up the first three Pakistan wickets to fall, inside her first two overs. The medium pacer struck with her first two deliveries, in the eighth over, getting both Muneeba Ali and Sadaf Shamas caught behind by wicketkeeper Sinalo Jafta. First ball of her next over, she found a way through Sidra Ameen's defences to hit the stumps.

Pakistan were 20 for 3 in 9.1 overs at that stage, and Klaas and Khaka got their first wickets not long after, reducing Pakistan to 49 for 6 in the 18th over.

There was a fightback.

Aliya Riaz, who had walked out at No. 5, and Fatima Sana, the No. 8 batter, took the fight to the South Africans. They stitched together a stand of 114 for the seventh wicket, Riaz scoring 53 in 86 balls, with three fours, and Sana hitting 69 in 87 balls, with ten fours, to give Pakistan something to work with.

But, again, once they were separated, the end came early, with de Klerk, who had returned 3 for 23 in the first game, picking up her fourth wicket when she sent back Umm-e-Hani.

It didn't seem like a lot of runs. Almost exactly what Pakistan had scored in the first game (165) when responding to South Africa's 292 for 4, and South Africa put up a similarly strong performance with the bat in their chase on this occasion.

Captain Laura Wolvaardt didn't last long, falling to Sadia Iqbal after scoring 13 in an opening stand of 41 with Brits. But Brits (45 in 54 balls) and Goodall (36 in 53) got the chase on track with a 40-run stand for the second wicket. It was fairly straightforward for South Africa after that, and though Sune Luus fell for 10, Kapp's 29 not out in 28 balls and de Klerk got the job done with lots to spare.

The third game will be played in Karachi, the same as the first two, on Thursday.