Pakistan completes a 3-0 sweep of ODI series against South Africa
Johannesburg (AP/PTI): Pakistan completed a 3-0 sweep of its ODI series against South Africa, winning the third match by 36 runs under the DLS method.
Opener Saim Ayub hit 101 runs in 94 balls as Pakistan scored 308-9 at the Wanderers in a game reduced to 47 overs by rain. South Africa was all out for 271 in 42 overs in pursuit of a winning target of 308.
Pakistan batted first after losing the toss and was 1-1 when it lost Abdullah Shafique in the first over. The innings took off with Ayub involved in two key stands — 114 runs for the second wicket with Babar Azam (52 in 71), and 93 runs for the third with captain Mohammad Rizwan (53 in 52).
The 22-year-old Ayub, who scored 109 in the first ODI, was caught behind against debutant Corbin Bosch. Ayub hit two sixes and 13 fours. Middle-order batter Salman Agha padded the total with a 33-ball 48.
South Africa pacer Kagiso Rabada took 3-56.
In reply, Heinrich Klaasen top scored for the hosts with 81 runs in 43 balls, and Bosch finished 40 not out. Pakistan spinner Sufiyan Muqeem took 4-52 in eight overs.
Pakistan had already secured the one-day international series, winning the opener by three wickets and the second ODI by 81 runs.
South Africa won the three-match Twenty20 series 2-0. The teams will play two tests, starting Thursday at Centurion.
Pakistan's fifth successive bilateral ODI series win puts it in good stead for the Champions Trophy it will host in February.
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Punjab Police security cover of MP Harbhajan Singh withdrawn
Chandigarh (PTI): The Punjab Police is learnt to have withdrawn the security cover of Rajya Sabha MP Harbhajan Singh, one of the seven lawmakers who switched to the BJP from AAP alongside Raghav Chadha, sources said.
The police security cover comprising 9-10 policemen was withdrawn on Saturday, they said.
The Punjab Police security was deployed at the former cricketer's residence at the Chhotti Baradari locality in Jalandhar.
Meanwhile, security personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force could be seen deployed outside the residence of the former cricketer on Sunday.
AAP workers on Saturday held protests outside the residences of Singh, Ashok Mittal and Rajinder Gupta, who have joined BJP, and wrote 'Gaddar' (traitor) on the boundary walls of their residences with spray paint in Ludhiana and Jalandhar.
On Friday, AAP Rajya Sabha members Raghav Chadha and Sandeep Pathak had announced their exit from the party as they joined the BJP along with five other MPs -- Mittal, Singh, Gupta, Swati Maliwal and Vikramjit Sahney.
Chadha alleged that the Arvind Kejriwal-led party had strayed from its principles, values and core morals, which is why he was joining the BJP. He said the seven had merged with the BJP as a faction.
In the immediate wake of the exodus, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann dubbed the seven leaders "gaddars".
Mann alleged that the BJP was trying to break the AAP and had "betrayed the people of Punjab".
