South Africa's George Linde stars as hosts beat Pakistan

South Africa`s George Linde delivers a ball during the first Twenty20 international cricket match between South Africa and Pakistan at the Wanderers stadium in Johannesburg. Pic/AFP

South African all-rounder George Linde picked three wickets as the hosts clawed back from the loss in the opening T20 International to defeat Pakistan by six wickets in the second match at Johannesburg on Monday.

Linde's (3/23) left-arm spin restricted the visitors to 140 for 9 in the allotted 20 overs after they elected to bat. Had it not been for a gritty 50 off 50 delivers from Pakistan skipper Babar Azam, and his 58-run partnership with Mohammad Hafeez, the visitors would have folded up much earlier.

South Africa notched up the required runs for the loss of four wickets with six overs to spare. Aiden Markram's breezy 30-ball 54 and skipper Heinrich Klassen's unbeaten 36 helped the home team level the series 1-1 with two matches remaining.

After his stellar show with the ball, Linde chipped in with an unbeaten 20.

Pakistan had earlier won a thriller of a contest when they chased down South Africa's fighting 188/6 with one ball remaining in the opening match of the T20I series played at the same venue.

The visitors have already won the one-day international series 2-1.

The third and fourth matches of the T20I series will be played in Centurion on April 14 and 16, respectively.

Brief scores:
Pakistan 140 for 9 in 20 overs (Babar Azam 50; George Linde 3/23, Lizaard Williams 3/35) lost to South Africa 141 for 4 in 14 overs (Aiden Markram 54, Heinrich Klaasen 36'; Usman Qadir 2-26) by six wickets.

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