When you don't give the big man rest
Concerns over Mohammad Irfan's workload began mid-way through the one-day series when he played match after match without a break. Although Irfan has worked hard on his conditioning after the Zimbabwe series, his giant frame leaves him susceptible to breakdowns and the inevitable happened four balls into his second over. Irfan was down on the pitch after being hit for four by Quinton de Kock. He seemed to be in discomfort in the hip area and before it could get any worse, he claimed his cap from the umpire and was helped off the field.
But taking the pace off is a good plan
Sohail Tanvir pulled things back for Pakistan with a probing spell at the back end of the innings. The delivery that worked well was the slower ball, as he showed in the final over. When he found the extra bounce, Faf du Plessis could not get it away, and when he delivered at length, Henry Davids could only drag it onto this stumps.
DRS needed, please
There is no review system in place in the shortest format for this series, but its absence was glaring when Mohammad Hafeez was given out first ball to give Wayne Parnell two in two. Parnell struck Hafeez on the front pad when he went for the pull shot, with umpire Zameer Haider giving it out immediately. It looked a questionable decision to the naked eye - Hafeez seemed to think so too as he grinned in disbelief - and replays showed it was too high and missing the the stumps altogether. With no reviews to call on, Hafeez had to go.
The part-timer
South Africa had enough bowlers at their disposal not to need to call on a part-timer but du Plessis decided to in the hope of using the element of surprise. Davids did not seem to pose any threat with his offspin and if Nasir Jamshed had left his third delivery alone, it would have been called wide. Instead, he chased it and miscued his shot. The intention was over cover, but it went to Amla at short third man, who took the catch.
Another casualty... but he returns
Parnell's second over did not go as well as his first and he decided to end it with a short ball. He surprised Shoaib Malik with extra bounce and struck him on the glove. Malik seemed in immediate discomfort and when he removed the protective gear, there was blood on his fingers. He left the field, retired, to put Pakistan under extra pressure. He returned, but added only two runs to his total before chopping on to his stumps.
Team hat-trick
With Imran Tahir in his final over, all that was needed by Pakistan was to see him off, but Malik made a little too much room as he tried to cut him away and played on. Tahir saved his googly for last and Abdul Razzaq completely misread it. He chose to leave the ball - which turned into him - and was bowled. Parnell started the next over with a cross-seam delivery that Maqsood tried to hit on the leg side. He only succeeded at getting an edge, and de Kock took the catch, one-handed, diving to his right to swing the advantage South Africa's way.