Fakhar Zaman defends De Kock's action and blames himself for his run-out

Pakistan batsman Fakhar Zaman has taken full accountability for his run out in the second ODI game against South Africa. The 30-year-old stated that he should have done better, and there was no fault of the Proteas wicket-keeper Quinton de Kock. Zaman's brilliant 193-run knock came to an end on the first ball of the final over as a direct hit from Aiden Markram from long-off caught him short of his crease. 

Quinton de Kock seemed to indicate that the ball was going towards the non-striker end, which stimulated Zaman to slow down. By the time Zaman realised that the ball was coming his way, it was too late as Aiden's throw hit the stumps directly, bringing his brilliant innings to an end. Pakistan ultimately fell short of their target of 342 and lost the game by 17 runs. The episode caused a huge Twitter debate, with most netizens calling for MCC's Law 41.5.1 to be invoked.

It was quite clever from Quinton de Kock: Temba Bavuma

Meanwhile, Temba Bavuma praised De Kock for the thoughtful piece of work under pressure. Bavuma, who dropped Fakhar Zaman in the 47th over, stated that the opener's wicket was important in the game's context. The batsman scored a 155-ball 193 with 18 boundaries and ten sixes. Simultaneously, the second-highest run-scorer for Pakistan was skipper Babar Azam with 31 runs against his name.

 It was Fakhar Zaman who was fighting a lone battle against the Proteas bowlers. The Pakistani batsman took the match very close. They required just 31 runs off the last over, and a win for Pakistan was looking highly improbable. Zaman was just seven runs shy of his double ton and could have easily reached that feat. Zaman also reckoned that winning the match for his nation was more important than scoring the double hundred. The left-handed batsman has a top score of an unbeaten 210 against Zimbabwe back in the year 2018.

With this victory, South Africa has equalled the three-match series at 1-1. The decider is going to take place on Wednesday. The Proteas side will now be without the services of their top performers-de Kock, David Miller, Kagiso Rabada, Ngidi and Nortje as they are heading to India for IPL.

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