MI Cape Town all-rounder George Linde marked an impressive return to international cricket after three years, leading South Africa to an 11-run victory over Pakistan in the first T20I at Kingsmead, Durban. Linde impressed with both bat and ball. With the bat, he scored 48 quick runs off 24 balls, contributing significantly to South Africa’s total.

David Miller also played a key role, smashing 82 off 40 balls with eight fours and four sixes. His innings provided the backbone of South Africa’s score, even though they lost wickets regularly.

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Linde’s all-round brilliance

Pakistan’s chase of 183 was led by captain Mohammad Rizwan, who top-scored with 74. However, he did not receive much support from his teammates and Pakistan ended up falling short, finishing on 172/8.

Linde’s performance with the ball was a major factor in Pakistan’s defeat. He took 4 wickets for 21 runs in his 4 overs, almost achieving a hat-trick in the process. His bowling was crucial in stopping Pakistan’s chase and increasing the required run rate.

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After the game, Linde shared a funny story about how he missed the team bus before the game. His phone was 15 minutes late, so he was late and saw the bus leave.

Luckily, a police escort helped him reach the team. Linde’s light-hearted story added a personal touch to her impressive performance, making her winning performance even more memorable.

“For some reason my phone was 15 minutes late. I thought, ‘Okay, at four o’clock I’m going to walk down and get on the bus early. And then when I left the team hotel, I saw the bus go away and that feeling was not very good. Luckily there were police escorts and they took me to the bus. No one actually noticed I wasn’t on the bus, which was pretty cool. Because they obviously thought I was on the bus. It was embarrassing, but I think for the next game I might be late again,” Linde said.