South African skipper Graeme Smith praised his team after their 57-run win over Pakistan in the fifth and final one-day international last night
South African skipper Graeme Smith praised his team after their 57-run win over Pakistan in the fifth and final one-day international last night.
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| SA's Colin Ingram and Robin Peterson celebrate. PIC/AFP |
"It was really a good effort from the team," said Smith. "We batted with freedom to put a great total and then put pressure on Pakistan to clinch the series."
Earlier, Jacques Kallis scored a brilliant half-century and took three wickets to guide South Africa to a commanding position.
The 35-year-old scored 83u00a0-- one of four half-centuries in the inningsu00a0-- to steer SA to an imposing 317-5 before he took 3-30 to dismiss Pakistan for 260 in reply, giving South Africa a 3-2 series win.
Pakistan, hoping to win the series, were cruising along nicely with openers Mohd Hafeez (59) and Shahzaib Hasan (39) gave them a robust 82-run start in their quest for their third best-ever odi chase.
But Kallis derailed Pakistan's innings with a triple strike in as many overs, removing Hasan, Younis Khan (three) and Mohammad Yousuf (three) off 13 balls to make his opponents struggle from 82-0 to 96-3.
As if his batting and bowling were not enough, Kallis took a well-judged catch at long-on off fellow paceman Dale Steyn to dismiss Hafeez in the 23rd over.
