Hosts South Africa won the first of three T2OIs against Pakistan by six runs despite the best effort from Shoaib Malik, whose 31-ball 49 eventually went in vain at Cape Town last night.

South Africa, after having won the Test series 2-0 and the ODIs 3-2, rode on skipper Faf du Plessis's 45-ball 78 and Ryan Hendricks's 74 off 41 bails to post a sizeable 192 for six after being asked to bat first. Lisman Shinwari was the best Pakistan bowler, netting figures of three for 31 in four overs.

Pakistan made a good fist of the chase and reached 85 for two after 10 overs when Hussain Talat was out. They could not hold on to the momentum, however, and lost five wickets for 67 runs in the aftermath of a strong beginning. South Africa's Tabraiz Shamsi, Beuran Hendricks and Chris Morris took two wickets each.

SCORES IN BRIEF

SOUTH AFRICA: 192 for 6 (Du Plessis 78, Hendricks 74; Shinwari 3-31, Wasim 1-23)

PAKISTAN: 186 for 9 (Malik 49, Talat 40, Babar 38; Shamsi 2-33, Morris 2-39, Hendricks 2-40)

Result: South Africa won by 6 runs

Player-of-the-match: David Miller