It took 26 matches for the World Cup to get a closely fought game. When it came, the nail-biting contest saw South Africa defeating Pakistan by one wicket on a day when fortunes swung wildly at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium.
Chasing 271, the Proteas made heavy weather of it despite Aiden Markram’s brilliant 91 (93b, 7x4, 3x6). Pakistan persisted, with Shaheen Afridi providing crucial breakthroughs to reduce South Africa to 250 for eight.
Pakistan vs South Africa: match updates
Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi and Tabraiz Shamsi then slowly added 21 runs while surviving hostile spells from the three Pakistan pacers.
Once the quicks had finished their quota, Maharaj whipped left-arm spinner Mohammad Nawaz to the square-leg fence to help the Rainbow Nation register its fifth win in six matches and climb to the top.
South Africa began strongly when Quinton de Kock plundered four boundaries off Afridi in the second over before Markram took charge with stunning shots, the highlight being an upper-cut six off Haris Rauf.
When Markram and David Miller added 70 for the fifth wicket, Bavuma’s men were cruising towards victory. But Afridi had Miller caught behind to break open the game.
Later, leg-spinner Usama Mir — who came on as a concussion substitute for Shadab Khan after the latter hurt himself while fielding — removed Markram, shifting the game’s balance.
But in the end, the former champion could not close out the game and slumped to its fourth straight loss of the tournament.
Earlier, Babar Azam (50) and Saud Shakeel (52) led the way while Shadab and Mohammad Rizwan chipped in with cameos after Pakistan elected to bat.
However, none of the batters converted their starts, and the Asian team managed only 270 after all along threatening to finish with more than that.
At 141 for five, Pakistan looked in trouble when Shadab and Shakeel came up with counter-attacking knocks.
Shakeel used the sweep effectively to find the fence against the spinners while Shadab pulled Maharaj for a four and a six before lofting Shamsi down the ground.
The duo’s 84-run stand (71 balls) set the stage for Pakistan to tee off in the last 10 overs.
But Gerald Coetzee struck in the 40th over removing Shadab before Shamsi had Shakeel caught behind.
The South African bowlers did well to bowl out Pakistan in the 47th over and the 20 deliveries Babar Azam’s men failed to play proved costly.
Pakistan was also guilty of some wayward bowling towards the end, hastening the defeat and causing the side further despair.
Scoreboard:
Pakistan innings: Abdullah Shafique c Ngidi b Jansen 9 Imam-ul-Haq c Klaasen b Jansen 12 Babar Azam c De Kock b Shamsi 50 Mohammad Rizwan c De Kock b Coetzee 31 Iftikhar Ahmed c Klaasen b Shamsi 21 Saud Shakeel c De Kock b Shamsi 52 Shadab Khan c Maharaj b Coetzee 43 Mohammad Nawaz c Miller b Jansen 24 Shaheen Shah Afridi c Maharaj b Shamsi 2 Mohammad Wasim c De Kock b Ngidi 7 Haris Rauf not out 0 Extras (B-4, NB-4, W-11) 19
Total: (All Out in 46.4 overs) 270
Fall of Wickets: 1-20, 2-38, 3-86, 4-129, 5-141, 6-225, 7-240, 8-259, 9-268.
South Africa bowling: Marco Jansen 9-1-43-3, Lungi Ngidi 7.4-0-45-1, Aiden Markram 4-0-20-0, Keshav Maharaj 9-0-56-0, Gerald Coetzee 7-0-42-2, Tabraiz Shamsi 10-0-60-4.
South Africa Innings: Temba Bavuma c Saud Shakeel b Mohammad Wasim Jr 28 Quinton de Kock c Mohammad Wasim Jr b Shaheen Afridi 24 Rassie van der Dussen lbw b Usama Mir 21 Aiden Markram c Babar Azam b Usama Mir 91 Heinrich Klaasen c Usama Mir b Mohammad Wasim Jr 12 David Miller c Rizwan b Shaheen Afridi 29 Marco Jansen c Babar Azam b Haris Rauf 20 Gerald Coetzee c Rizwan b Shaheen Afridi 10 Keshav Maharaj not out 7 Lungi Ngidi c and b Haris Rauf 4 Tabraiz Shamsi not out 4 Extras:(B-1, LB-5, W-15) 21
Total: (9 wickets, 47.2 overs) 271
Fall of Wickets: 34-1, 67-2, 121-3, 136-4, 206-5, 235-6, 250-7, 250-8, 260-9.
Pakistan bowling: Iftikhar Ahmed 3-0-23-0, Shaheen Afridi 10-0-45-3, Mohammad Nawaz 6.2-0-40-0, Haris Rauf 10-0-62-2, Mohammad Wasim Jr 10-1-50-2, Usama Mir 8-0-45-2.
