(ESPNCRICINFO) – South Africa were blanked for the first time in a bilateral ODI series at home after losing by 36 runs to Pakistan in a rain-affected game at the Wanderers. Saim Ayub starred with bat and ball by scoring a second hundred in the series and with figures of 1 for 34. Debutant wristpinner Sufiyan Muqeem took 4 for 52 to again ask questions of South Africa’s ability against spin.

The loss means South Africa have won only one out of three ODI series this year, after also losing to Afghanistan in Sharjah, and two out of six ODI series under white-ball coach Rob Walter, who took over in February 2023. Pakistan, on the other hand, completed a fifth successive bilateral series win after beating New Zealand, Afghanistan, Australia and Zimbabwe.

Ayub has enjoyed a stunning summer in South Africa so far. He scored 98 not out in the T20I in Centurion and 109 in Paarl, and then anchored a strong Pakistan effort at the Wanderers, with 101. He also shared in a 114-run second-wicket stand with Babar Azam and a 93-run third-wicket partnership with Mohammad Rizwan to give Pakistan the perfect platform.

Both Babar and Rizwan brought up half-centuries as well. Pakistan had mini-collapses either side of Salman Agha and Tayyab Tahir’s sixth-wicket stand of 74 off 47 balls which pushed their total above 300. Their template of slow starts and explosive finishes continued to work well for them while South Africa’s top-order batting concerns continued.

Heinrich Klaasen was the only batter to score a half-century, and he did it in all three matches. He was also the leading run-scorer in the series with an average of 88.00 but had no support from anyone else until Corbin Bosch’s 44-ball 40, on debut at No.8, kept South Africa in the chase.

After opting to bowl first in overcast conditions, South Africa were unable to maximise their chances, despite Kagiso Rabada beating the edge several times early on, and then struggled with their disciplines later on. Bjorn Fortuin and Aiden Markam bowled 13 overs of spin between them at a collective economy of 5.6 to the over but the seamers were costly. Marco Jansen’s nine overs cost 58 runs while Bosch and Kwena Maphaka, in his second ODI and first on his home ground, bowled 15 overs between them for 119 runs and picked up a wicket apiece.

Things started well for South Africa when Abdullah Shafique edged Rabada to second slip to register his third successive duck of the series. All Shafique’s dismissals have come nicking off, which South Africa will remember ahead of next week’s Test. Play only continued for another 17 deliveries before rain kept the players off the field for an hour and a quarter.

Pakistan could have lost Babar 14 balls after the restart, when he cut Marco Jansen to point. Bjorn Fortuin leapt to his right but got his hands in the wrong position and dropped the chance. Babar was on 10, and would take some time to get into his rhythm. Instead, it was Ayub who took South Africa on with two drives off a Rabada over in the “v” and then two pull shots off Jansen to end the Powerplay with Pakistan on 42 for 1.

Maphaka was expensive in his first spell which lasted only two overs and cost 17 runs but Bosch immediately showed his potential with deliveries above 140kph. Ayub inside-edged one of his deliveries onto his box but no major damage was done and he brought up 50 off 54 balls. Maphaka returned from the other end and initially Babar had the better of him but the 18-year-old had the final say. He hit Babar on the bottom hand and then tempted him with a short ball that Babar sent straight to David Miller and short mid-wicket. This year will be the first since Babar made his debut in 2015 that he will not score an ODI hundred.