It was already being called, albeit light-heartedly, an “appetiser” of a tournament, ahead of the “main course” PSL matches that begin later this month. The T20 International series between Pakistan and South Africa, which followed the host team’s uplifting 2-0 win in the Test matches earlier this month, kicked off Thursday evening in Lahore with a thrilling victory for green shirts against a comparatively inexperienced, if not depleted, SA. It sure gave the visitors at the Gaddafi Stadium a taste of their favourite sport, albeit sparingly.

The venue on the first match might have been bereft of the kind of crowds the place has witnessed in the past, which was largely due to the pandemic, but it still hogged all the limelight in the world for its entire duration. The towering floodlights of the stadium shone bright against the city’s skyline, while the roads leading to and from the game venue were lined variously with iridescent bulbs and generators that made sure there wasn’t a ‘dark’ moment. It was as if the night had suddenly come alive in Lahore.