A 102-run stand between Mohammad Hafeez and Umar Akmal allowed Pakistan to put on their most competitive batting display in limited-overs matches against South Africa in the last month and break a six-match winless streak
Scorer: Gopi Rangarajan | Commentator: Rohan Sharma
Well, that's it from the presentation. I hope you all enjoyed this contest as much as we did. Heartening to see Pakistan pull through with the victory, and this should bode well for the remainder of the tour as Pakistan gain some much needed momentum. On behalf of Alagappan Muthu and the scorers, this is Rohan Sharma saying good night, and good luck.
Hafeez has also been adjudged both the Man of the Match and Man of the Series for the T20s.
Mohammad Hafeez, Pakistan captain: We have been working really hard, but things were not working for Pakistan. Some kind of luck, some kind of game awareness was missing. I think everyone contribute a lot in this game. We knew we had to win this game to stay positive for the rest of the series, and we did just that. We've been losing the matches which we could easily win, but it was luck or some kind of game awareness. Everyone contributed a lot. Bhatti showed a lot of commitment and has been a good find for Pakistan as well. We were having three senior players not with us with Malik, Razzaq, etc. We had a good meeting with each other to stay positive and do well for Pakistan. It's always great to do well for Pakistan and that I was able to contribute to the victory. Misbah is here and Shafiq is here so hopefully it all remains the same for the ODIs.
Faf du Plessis, South Africa captain: I think we weren't as good tonight in the bowling department as we have before. We made some errors and gave away 20 extra runs and that was the difference. It was a really good wicket, we could see it would be a nice deck. I thought we brought it back nicely in the last four overs, but in the middle we did not bowl to the right plans. We are in a very good place. We are not always going to win and tonight we didn't play our best so Pakistan played better and deserved to win it. Even in the previous victories, we weren't at our best, but we pulled it out. We have tried a few combinations. It is good if we can stick to the same winning combination, but we need to change it up for the T20 World Cup next year.
Mazher Arshad: "STAT: Of the 21 times Pakistan scored 150-plus in Twenty20s, they defended it 20 times. Says a lot about how good their bowlers are!"
Do join us in a few minutes' time for the match presentation.
An excellent final over from Tanvir does the job, and rewards the Pakistani batsmen who put on a good show today, especially when you consider how frail their batting appeared just a couple of weeks back. South Africa seemingly lost their way halfway through this chase, and despite some late-hitting heroics from JP Duminy, the gap was just wide enough for the tourists to take the match. Produced a match that I'm sure the Cape Town faithful will be pleased to have witnessed, which is a welcome change from the rather one-sided contests these teams have offered up in the recent past.
Suleman: "Please win it Pakistan..!! close finishes are not sweeter than a win..!!"
Sohail Tanvir to bowl the final over, and will start round the wicket
And all of a sudden South Africa now need 17 to win off the final over. Can they do it, or will Pakistan hold their nerve?
Dale Steyn has been fined 10% of his match fee for breaching the ICC Code of Conduct during the second Twenty20 international against Pakistan in Cape Town
Newlands was painted green and white, and the chants had a subcontinental ring to them
Plays of the day from the second T20 between South Africa and Pakistan in Cape Town
A 102-run stand between Mohammad Hafeez and Umar Akmal allowed Pakistan to put on their most competitive batting display in limited-overs matches against South Africa in the last month and break a six-match winless streak
