South Africa Champions clinched the WCL 2025 trophy with a dominant nine-wicket win over Pakistan Champions, thanks to AB de Villiers’ unbeaten century. Chasing a challenging 196-run target, the Proteas sealed the win with 19 balls to spare, losing just one wicket.
De Villiers led the charge with a spectacular 120 off 60 balls, hammering 12 fours and seven sixes—his third century of the tournament.
He shared a 72-run opening stand with Hashim Amla, who scored 18 off 14 before falling to Saeed Ajmal on the final ball of the powerplay.
JP Duminy, after a slow start, accelerated to a quickfire 50 off 28 balls, including four boundaries and two sixes, partnering de Villiers in a match-winning 125-run stand.
For Pakistan Champions, only Ajmal could pick up a wicket, while the rest went wicketless.
Pakistan captain Mohammad Hafeez’s decision to bat first proved beneficial as his team’s batting unit yielded 195/5 in their allotted 20 overs.
The Green Shirts, however, had a contrasting start to their innings as they lost in-form opener Kamran Akmal (two) in the third over with just 14 runs on the board.
Following the early stutter, skipper Hafeez joined Sharjeel in the middle, and the duo put together 40 runs for the second wicket until the former fell victim to Wayne Parnell in the sixth over. Hafeez made 17 off 10 deliveries.
Sharjeel was then involved in a one-sided 72-run partnership for the third wicket with Shoaib Malik until Hardus Viljoen trapped him lbw in the 14th over.
The left-handed opener remained the top-scorer for Pakistan Champions with 76 off 44 deliveries, studded with nine fours and four sixes.
Malik followed suit in the next over when Parnell drew curtains on his struggling knock, amid which he mustered 20 off 25 deliveries.
The back-to-back dismissals reduced Pakistan Champions to 132/4 in 14.3 overs, besides forcing an unset pair of Umar Amin and Asif Ali.
The duo, however, managed to retain the momentum and registered a sensational 61-run partnership, which culminated with Asif’s dismissal on the fourth delivery of the final over.
He made 28 off 15 deliveries, laced with one four and two sixes.
Amin, who was the core aggressor of the crucial stand, remained unbeaten with a 19-ball 36, featuring three fours and as many sixes.
For South Africa Champions, Viljoen and Parnell bagged two wickets each, while Duanne Olivier made one scalp.