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New Delhi: Opener Quinton de Kock's unbeaten 123 was the cornerstone of South Africa's eight-wicket win over Pakistan in the second ODI in Faisalabad on Thursday.
The left hander's 119-ball knock, studded with eight boundaries and seven sixes, made light work of the 270-run target set by Pakistan as South Africa romped home in 40.1 overs.
Opener Lhuan-dre Pretorius scored 46 in an 81-run first wicket partnership, following which de Kock shared a 153-run stand with Tony de Zorzi (76), which became the second-highest partnership for them in Pakistan.
It enabled the Proteas to win with 59 balls to spare, registering the second-highest target successfully chased by them against Pakistan in ODIs.
The series now is tied 1-1 with the third and final game scheduled to be held in Faisalabad on November 8.
Earlier, Pakistan put up a fighting total of 269 for 9 after opting to take first strike at the Iqbal Stadium, having slumped to 22/3 inside five overs.
Fakhar Zaman (0), Babar Azam (11) and keeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan (4) all departed early as Nandre Burger (4/46) made inroads.
Saim Ayub anchored the home team's innings with 53 off 66 balls that featured five fours and a six. He struck up a partnership with Salman Agha, who top-scored with 69 from 106 balls, to lay a platform for Pakistan.
Mohammad Nawaz, through his run-a-ball 59, then ensured that Pakistan put up a competitive score even though that turned out to be too little in the face of de Kock's blazing knock.
De Kock was later named the player of the match. He said: "I set myself really high standards. I always look at myself in the mirror if I drop my standards or not. I just hope it keeps working for me. Nice to be back here with the team, the extra responsibility is nice.
"I haven't battled with a lot of these guys before so new faces is nice, making new friends, so it's great to be back. They (Pretorius and de Zorzi) are batting really well at the moment.
"Young Lhu (Lhuan-dre Pretorius) is making it pretty easy up front there. He's just taking all the strikes and I'm giving it to him because he's just dominating. The guys batted really well. The last two games we batted quite nicely. Obviously, tonight was really good. Nice and clinical also."
