As if it wasn’t bad enough that the Proteas were officially knocked out of the World Cup by Pakistan on Sunday, things aren’t looking to rosy for the future either.
On Tuesday, the South African Under-19 side lost their second consecutive match against their Pakistani counterparts in Pietermaritzburg.
And guess what – it was another Haris who broke South African hearts.
Haris Khan scored 60 not out off just 53 balls to follow in the footsteps of Haris Sohail and see the visitors clinch a four-wicket victory as they chased down the 216-run target with over seven overs to spare.
The South Africans batted first and were bowled out for 215 in 44 overs at the City Oval.
Opening batsman Andrew Louw top-scored with 91 off 114 balls, but no one else reached 30 as Naseem Shah and Akhtar Shah claimed three wickets each.
In a match reduced to 47 overs per side, the Pakistanis got off to a shaky start and were 28/3 early on.
But captain Rohail Nazir (67), Qasim Akram (22) and Haris Khan (67 not out) got them back on track, before Irfan Niazi scored an unbeaten 33 to take his team home.
Pakistan lead the seven-match series 2-0, with the next game scheduled for Thursday at the same venue.
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/hashtag/SAu19s?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SAu19sskipper, Bryce Parsons gives his take on today’s defeat against Pakistan in the 2nd #YouthODI.
Despite the disappointing result, he’s also lauded Andrew Louw for his valiant 91. #SAvPAK #FutureStars pic.twitter.com/sbye8BsnIL
— Cricket South Africa (@OfficialCSA)
@ashfakmohamed