Last Updated:
Haris Rauf’s bouncer to Heinrich Klaasen seemed to begin the spat, while Babar Azam and David Miller soon got involved.
Mohammad Rizwan and Heinrich Klaasen were involved in an on-field spat. (X)
Tempers flared high in the second ODI between Pakistan and South Africa as Mohammad Rizwan engaged in a heated chat with Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller near the pitch before being separated by Babar Azam. The umpires also got involved and the matter took a few minutes before the game continued and was eventually clinched by Pakistan by 81 runs.
The incident happened after the 26th over of South Africa’s chase of Pakistan’s 329. South Africa were at 140/4 when Haris Rauf bowled a short ball to Klaasen which was left alone. The Pakistani pacer let out a few words at the batter and got some in return. Klaasen seemed quite angry when Pakistan skipper Rizwan, the umpire and then Babar joined in.
The former captain seemed to douse all the finger-pointing and even prevent a possible aggravation when Rauf walked back to the scene. Watch a video of the incident here:
The incident slightly overshadowed what was otherwise an excellent match. Rizwan (80 off 82) and Babar put up a brilliant stand of 115 runs for the third wicket in the first innings to lift Pakistan from 53/2 in the 10th over. Both fell short of their centuries but laid the platform for Kamran Ghulam (63 off 32) and Salman Agha (33 off 30) to build upon.
South Africa didn’t start too badly but lost wickets regularly, the first four going in the sixth, 12th, 17th and 24th overs. Everyone in the top-five got starts with scores of over 20 but only Klaasen made it count with a 74-ball 97.
The big-hitter seemed to be coming back into form after an uncharacteristic lean run, hitting eight fours and four maximums. He, too, fell short of his century by three runs. He had run out of partners and saw South Africa reeling at 248/9 and ended up mistiming a pull against Naseem Shah to deep mid-wicket. With the win, Pakistan sealed the three-match series 2-0.
“All of the guys were involved and everyone performed,” a pleased Rizwan said after the match. “We got the partnership but the start was good. Myself and Babar decided to go slow and lay the foundation. We were looking at 300 but we made 320 thanks to Kamran Ghulam.”
