Spinner George Linde took four wickets, plus scored 48 runs off 24 balls with the bat, to lead South Africa to an 11-run win over Pakistan in the first of their Twenty20 internationals at Kingsmead on Tuesday.
Linde ensured South Africa, who won the toss and chose to bat first, set a tough target as they made 183-9 off their 20 overs.
Pakistan were 172-8 in reply, falling short of the target.
David Miller top scored for South Africa with 82 off 40 runs in a swashbuckling innings that included four sixes and eight fours.
Linde then took 4-21 in four overs, but was denied a hat-trick when his last ball was initially adjudged to have trapped Haris Rauf leg before wicket. The decision was overturned on review when the ball tracker said the ball would have missed the leg stump.
Pakistan were always struggling to keep up the required run rate despite captain Mohamed Rizwan batting through to the last over before being dismissed for 74.
The two teams meet next in Pretoria on Friday and then again on Saturday at the Wanderers in Johannesburg.
Next week the two countries will meet in a three-match One Day International series.
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