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Pakistan have won five bilateral ODI series in a row. The streak started in 2023, defeating New Zealand 4-1. Following this, they whitewashed Afghanistan in a three-match series in the same year. Now, they have added three overseas series wins in 2024. Firstly, Australia, then Zimbabwe and now, here in South Africa.

Time for the post-match ceremony...

Kamran Ghulam (POTM): "Thanks to the almighty today I performed well. We have done very well not only in this game but also in this series. Our team has performed well in both matches and in the last couple of years. I am happy."

Temba Bavuma (South Africa Captain): "Yeah, probably. I think, first 25 overs of the game, I think we had it in control. In the last 25, we let them get away. Over 200 runs, we let down the good work we did in the first half of the game.

Yeah, we felt so. The wicket still played good. We needed to put up a really brave performance. But yeah, if I had the option, I would have bowled again. 

As batters, we let ourselves down. Even in the UAE, the guys who get in are not scoring 100s. We haven't scored the number of hundreds we are accustomed and that is something we have to improve on that. Guys getting in is a positive but you have to carry on for the team"

Mohammad Rizwan (Pakistan Captain): "Absolutely, it was a team game. All of the guys performed. They stepped on when required, and yeah, we are happy.

If you look at our partnership between Babar Azam and me, the platform was set by Saim Ayub. Babar and I just kept things going and decided to go slow and lay the platform.

It was Kamran Ghulam's innings that took the chase away from South Africa. We were looking for something around 300, but thanks to Ghulam for how he batted and took the total well past 320. I must give credit to him. That is what you look for when you bat first. As a skipper, I have trust and belief in him (Ghulam), but not as much as he played today (chuckles). I have seen him play in Peshawar, in the KPK region, but that was something different.

The bowlers then bowled well to restrict them. Start from Abrar, he gave us a wicket and there were good partnerships in bowling as well. Shaheen was excellent. Naseem, too."

Pakistan looked clueless just a couple of weeks ago when they lost the T20I series 2-0. However, as soon as 60 more overs were added to the mix, they played as if they were the home side. Two clinical wins later, Mohammad Rizwan and his men have secured the ODI series with a game to spare. The third and final ODI will be played at the Wanderers Stadium on Sunday. It will be the annual Pink ODI, to raise awareness for breast cancer. The Proteas will don the pink jersey for this game.

For now, this is me Ajay Pal Singh signing off on behalf of my colleagues AkshayaKrishna Polya and Zeeshan Naiyer. Goodnight!!!