South Africa needed 139 runs to win. They had 9 wickets. The pitch had been deteriorating since Day 2. Dewald Brevis 22 years old, playing only his third Test came in and started hitting. He scored 54 off 54 balls on a wearing Lahore surface. He almost pulled off the impossible.
Then Noman Ali came back into the attack. Brevis tried to hit him again this time, the ball gripped, turned, and took the edge.
Three words explain the 2025 South Africa tour of Pakistan: spin on Lahore, pace on Rawalpindi, de Kock at Faisalabad. Each venue produced a different match. Each match told a different story. Pakistan won all three series Tests (1-0 effective lead), T20Is (2-1), ODIs (2-1). But South Africa won the most dramatic individual performances of the tour.
Here are the complete scorecards for all 8 matches.
South Africa Tour of Pakistan 2025: Series Overview
Format: 2 Tests, 3 T20Is, 3 ODIs
Period: October 12 – November 8, 2025
Venues: Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore (Tests + T20Is) | Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium (Tests + T20Is) | Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad (All ODIs)
Series Verdicts by Format
| Format | Winner | Series Score | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tests | Drawn (Pakistan led) | 1-1 | PAK won by 93 runs; SA won by 8 wkts |
| T20Is | Pakistan | 2-1 | SA won Match 1 (55 runs); PAK won Matches 2 & 3 |
| ODIs | Pakistan | 2-1 | PAK won Matches 1 & 3; SA won Match 2 |
Pakistan won the T20I and ODI series. The Test series was drawn 1-1.
Pakistan’s compound tour performance winning T20Is 2-1 and ODIs 2-1 on home soil while drawing the Tests 1-1 is arguably their best full-format bilateral home campaign against South Africa since 2014. They did not dominate any single format the way SA dominated Tests in Australia in the same period, but they were more consistently competitive across all eight matches than SA. The drawn Test series is the only format where Pakistan could argue they underperformed.
1st Test Scorecard: Pakistan Won by 93 Runs (Lahore, October 12–15, 2025)
Venue: Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore | Toss: South Africa (chose to field)
| Innings | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Pakistan | 328 |
| 2nd | South Africa | 167 |
| 3rd | Pakistan | 222 (declared or all out) |
| 4th | South Africa | 290 |
Result: Pakistan won by 93 runs.
Noman Ali 10-Wicket Haul: The Match Anatomy
| Bowling (1st Test) | Wickets | Runs | Overs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Noman Ali | 10 | total across both innings | 35+46.1 ov |
| Sajid Khan | 1 (2nd innings) | 98 | 33 ov |
| S. Muthusamy (SA) | 11 | — | — |
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Noman Ali: 10 wickets in the match. His third career Test 10-wicket haul.
Muthusamy: 11 wickets in the same match. SA’s spinner matched Noman in volume but Pakistan still won.
The 1st Test at Lahore was a spinner’s duel unlike any bilateral Test in the PAK vs SA history: Noman Ali (10 wickets) vs Senuran Muthusamy (11 wickets). A combined 21 wickets taken by two spinners in one Test. The Gaddafi Stadium pitch deteriorates significantly from Day 2 onwards, with footmarks outside the right-hander’s off-stump becoming the primary dismissal zone by Day 4. Both Noman and Muthusamy exploited the same wear channel but Pakistan’s 93-run lead at the start of SA’s 4th-innings chase was the structural difference.
Dewald Brevis 54: The Counter-Attack That Nearly Worked
Dewald Brevis 22 years old, third Test cap. Scored 54 off 54 balls on a turning Day-4 Lahore pitch.
He was targeting Noman Ali specifically reverse-sweeping against the turn, clearing his front leg to hit over mid-on. For 30 balls, he made the equation look winnable. Then the same reverse-sweep movement caught the edge of a ball that held its line rather than turning through, and Noman had his 10th wicket.
Brevis’ dismissal at SA 151/8 (needing 139 from that point, but Brevis carrying so much of the lower-middle order) was the exact moment Pakistan confirmed the result. Without Brevis, SA are all out for 210-220. With Brevis surviving through the 40th over, SA could have won. That 10-minute window around overs 40-46.1 was the 1st Test match in miniature.
2nd Test Scorecard: South Africa Won by 8 Wickets (Rawalpindi, October 20–24, 2025)
Venue: Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium | Toss: Pakistan
Result: South Africa won by 8 wickets.
Rawalpindi’s Flat Surface: Pakistan’s Spin Strategy Had No Answer
This is where Pakistan’s home advantage disappeared entirely.
Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium has one of the flattest, most batting-friendly pitches in Pakistan. It does not deteriorate significantly across 5 days which means Pakistan’s primary match-winning tool (spinning the ball on a breaking Gaddafi/Lahore surface) is neutralised from the start.
SA posted 404 in their first innings 71 runs ahead of Pakistan’s 333. With a 71-run deficit, Pakistan’s 2nd innings of 138 was never sufficient to set a challenging target. SA chased 73 for 2 the most one-sided Test result by margin in the entire series.
The 2nd Test result (SA won by 8 wickets at Rawalpindi) is not evidence that SA are a better Test team than Pakistan. It is evidence that Pakistan’s Test match-winning formula spin bowling + deteriorating home pitches has a specific geographical limitation. Prepare a flat Rawalpindi pitch, and Pakistan become an average Test team. Prepare a turning Lahore pitch, and Pakistan have Noman Ali. That tactical dependency is Pakistan’s biggest Test cricket vulnerability in 2025.
Test series verdict: 1-1 drawn. Both teams won exactly once on their preferred pitch conditions.
1st T20I Scorecard: South Africa Won by 55 Runs (Rawalpindi, October 28, 2025)
Venue: Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium (night match) | Toss: —
Result: South Africa won by 55 runs.
Corbin Bosch 4/14: The Best T20I Bowling Performance of the Tour
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Bosch 4/14 — Pakistan all out for 139 chasing 195.
Corbin Bosch’s 4/14. A strike rate of one wicket per 6 balls at an economy of 3.5 is the single most economical 4-wicket T20I bowling performance in this bilateral rivalry’s history. He took 4 wickets for just 14 runs, consistently hitting the top of off-stump with seam movement in the Rawalpindi night atmosphere (a pitch that assists late swing at night under dew).
George Linde: Player of the Match a double contribution: 36 runs batting in SA’s innings, then 3/31 bowling. Linde’s all-round performance is the second-most important individual contribution in the 1st T20I.
Hendricks 60 set the platform. Linde’s 36 in the lower-middle order pushed SA to 194/9 a total that proved 55 runs too many for Pakistan’s batting order.
2nd T20I Scorecard: Pakistan Won by 9 Wickets (Lahore, October 31, 2025)
Venue: Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore
Pakistan won by 9 wickets in the 2nd T20I echoing the 1st Test pattern: Rawalpindi favours SA, Lahore favours Pakistan. SA were bowled out cheaply. Pakistan chased the target down with 9 wickets in hand — the largest win margin of any T20I in the series.
Pakistan’s swing from a 55-run loss (1st T20I, Rawalpindi) to a 9-wicket win (2nd T20I, Lahore) is the starkest single-venue change in bilateral cricket in 2025. Same tournament. Same week. Two different venues in Pakistan. Two completely different results. The Rawalpindi vs Lahore dichotomy in Pakistan cricket is not just a narrative it is statistically measurable: Pakistan’s T20I win rate at Lahore is significantly higher than at Rawalpindi against quality opponents.
3rd T20I Scorecard: Pakistan Won by 4 Wickets (Lahore, November 1, 2025)
Venue: Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore
Result: Pakistan won by 4 wickets.
Usman Khan and Faheem Ashraf: Finishing the Job
Pakistan needed runs in the final overs from Usman Khan and Faheem Ashraf two lower-middle-order batters who completed the chase in the 19th over.
SA’s 139/9 a sub-par T20I total on any pitch should have been straightforward to chase. Pakistan lost 6 wickets across 19 overs before getting home, suggesting SA’s bowling restricted Pakistan far better than the result suggests. The 4-wicket margin flatters Pakistan’s composure.
PAK 6 down needing 14 off 12. Usman Khan and Faheem Ashraf batting together. The match was less settled than a 4-wicket win implies. The T20I series went to the last over of the last game, confirming how competitive the format split actually was in this series.
1st ODI Scorecard: Pakistan Won by 2 Wickets (Faisalabad, November 4, 2025)
Venue: Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad | Toss: South Africa (chose to bat)
Result: Pakistan won by 2 wickets.
Salman Agha 62 + Rizwan 55: The Rescue After 105/3
Pakistan were in serious trouble at 105/3 in 19.5 overs. Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, and Rizwan’s opening trio had gone cheaply. Then Mohammad Rizwan (55) and Salman Agha (62 off 71) built a 91-run partnership.
After Rizwan fell at 196, Salman Agha continued to anchor but wickets kept falling. Pakistan finished on 264/8 in 49.4 overs. The last pair (Shaheen Afridi batting) added the winning runs with 2 balls remaining.
Player of the Match: Salman Agha (62* contribution, finishing innings at the crease).
Historic records set:
- Pakistan’s 5th consecutive ODI win against South Africa
- Pakistan’s highest successful ODI chase at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad
Salman Agha at 196/4 Pakistan needed 68 off 80 balls. Agha kept singles ticking, selected boundaries carefully, and managed the tail without panic. The specific skill in this innings was that Agha understood the dew factor as the captain Shaheen Afridi noted, the ball stopped reversing and started swinging conventionally under dew after overs 40, which meant accurate shots became easier. Agha used the dew window for the final 8 overs.
2nd ODI Scorecard: South Africa Won by 8 Wickets (Faisalabad, November 6, 2025)
Venue: Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad | Toss: Pakistan (chose to bat)
Result: South Africa won by 8 wickets (59 balls remaining).
Quinton de Kock 123*. Comeback Century After Sitting Out the Tests
| SA Batting | Runs | Balls | 4s | 6s | SR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lhuan-dre Pretorius | 46 | 40 | 7 | 1 | 115 |
| Quinton de Kock* | 123 | 119 | 8 | 7 | 103 |
| Tony de Zorzi | 76 | 63 | 9 | 3 | 120 |
SA: 270/2 in 40.1 overs 8 wickets in hand, 59 balls remaining.
De Kock 123* + de Zorzi 76: a 153-run partnership for the 2nd wicket.
De Kock sat out the Test series presumably resting from the Test format as he has been selective about Test appearances in recent years. His return to SA’s ODI lineup for the Faisalabad series produced immediately: 123* on comeback, establishing a partnership of 153 with de Zorzi that made 270 look like a formality from the 30-over mark.
The 2nd ODI scorecard reveals a structural truth about SA’s ODI batting depth: SA 270/2 in 40.1 overs chasing Pakistan’s 269/9 means SA needed 10.8 overs’ worth of batting to equal Pakistan’s entire 50-over innings and had 2 wickets down. De Kock + de Zorzi effectively made 10 overs of Pakistan’s batting irrelevant. That efficiency gap Pakistan using all 50 overs for 269, SA using 40.1 overs for 270 with 8 wickets is the most telling individual match scorecard of the entire tour.
Pakistan batting highlights (2nd ODI):
| Fall of Wickets | Player | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fakhar Zaman | 1 (0.3 overs) |
| 2 | Babar Azam | 17 (4.1 overs) |
| 3 | Mohammad Rizwan | 22 (4.5 overs) |
| Recoverer | Saim Ayub | 50 off 61 balls (24.3 overs) |
| Lower anchor | Salman Agha | 41 (41.0 overs) |
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Pakistan recovered from 22/3 in 4.5 overs to post 269/9. Saim Ayub’s 50 and Faheem Ashraf’s 52 in the middle-lower order were the platforms.
3rd ODI Scorecard: Pakistan Won by 7 Wickets (Faisalabad, November 8, 2025)
Venue: Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad
| Result | Details |
|---|---|
| SA score | Bowled out |
| Pakistan | Chased comfortably — won by 7 wickets |
| Series result | Pakistan won ODI series 2-1 |
Pakistan won the 3rd ODI by 7 wickets. SA were bowled out for a sub-competitive total, and Pakistan chased it down comfortably.
Pakistan captain Shaheen Afridi won his first ODI series as captain.
Complete 2025 Tour Results Table: All 8 Matches
5 Defining Performances of the SA Tour of Pakistan 2025
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q1: What were the results of all 8 matches in South Africa’s 2025 tour of Pakistan?
Ans. Tests (drawn 1-1): Pakistan won 1st Test by 93 runs (Lahore); SA won 2nd Test by 8 wickets (Rawalpindi). T20Is (Pakistan won 2-1): SA won 1st T20I by 55 runs (Rawalpindi); Pakistan won 2nd T20I by 9 wickets (Lahore); Pakistan won 3rd T20I by 4 wickets (Lahore). ODIs (Pakistan won 2-1): Pakistan won 1st ODI by 2 wickets (Faisalabad); SA won 2nd ODI by 8 wickets (Faisalabad); Pakistan won 3rd ODI by 7 wickets (Faisalabad).
Q2: What was Noman Ali’s performance in the 1st Test Pakistan vs South Africa 2025?
Ans. Noman Ali took 10 wickets in the 1st Test at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore (October 12–15, 2025) — his third career Test 10-wicket haul. South Africa’s Senuran Muthusamy took 11 wickets in the same match, but Pakistan won by 93 runs. Noman took 6 wickets in SA’s 1st innings (SA 167) and 4 in the 4th innings. Key dismissals included Dewald Brevis (54) who threatened to win the match before Noman’s 10th wicket ended the match.
Q3: What was the scorecard of Pakistan vs South Africa 2nd ODI 2025?
Ans. Pakistan scored 269/9 in 50 overs (Saim Ayub 50, collapse at 22/3 early). South Africa chased 270 in 40.1 overs for the loss of 2 wickets — SA won by 8 wickets with 59 balls remaining. Key performers: Quinton de Kock 123* off 119 balls (8 fours, 7 sixes), Tony de Zorzi 76 off 63, and their 153-run 2nd-wicket partnership. Lhuan-dre Pretorius scored 46 at the top.
Q4: What was Corbin Bosch’s performance in the 1st T20I Pakistan vs South Africa 2025?
Ans. Corbin Bosch took 4 wickets for 14 runs in 4 overs in the 1st T20I at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on October 28, 2025 — the best T20I bowling performance of the entire tour. His figures contributed to Pakistan being bowled out for 139 chasing South Africa’s 194/9 (Reeza Hendricks 60). George Linde was Player of the Match for his combined contribution of 36 runs and 3/31. SA won by 55 runs.
Q5: What was Pakistan’s record-setting achievement in the 1st ODI vs South Africa 2025?
Ans. Pakistan recorded their highest-ever successful ODI chase at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad in the 1st ODI on November 4, 2025 — chasing South Africa’s 263 to win by 2 wickets (PAK 264/8 in 49.4 overs). This was also Pakistan’s fifth consecutive ODI win against South Africa. Salman Agha (62 off 71) and Mohammad Rizwan (55) rescued Pakistan from 105/3, and the match was won with 2 balls remaining.
Q6: What was the full scorecard of Pakistan vs South Africa 1st T20I 2025?
Ans. South Africa 194/9 (20 overs) — Reeza Hendricks 60, George Linde 36, Tony de Zorzi 33; Pakistan’s Mohammad Nawaz 3/26, Saim Ayub 2/31. Pakistan 139 all out (18.1 overs) — Saim Ayub 37, Mohammad Nawaz 36, Sahibzada Farhan 24; Corbin Bosch 4/14, George Linde 3/31, Lizaad Williams 2/21. South Africa won by 55 runs. George Linde was Player of the Match. Venue: Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, October 28, 2025.
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