DHAKA: A haul of three wickets by three seamers each helped Pakistan beat favorite South Africa by 29-run in the rain-affected Pool B match of the ICC World Cup in Auckland Saturday.
Mohammad Irfan, Rahat Ali and Wahab Riaz took three wickets each. AB de Villiers brought a timely effort for the Propteas, but failed to make it.
Chasing a 232-run target as per Duckworth–Lewis (D/L) method, South Africa scored 202 all out in 33.3 overs.
Quinton de Kock started the Proteas’ innings with Hashim Amla on the crease. South Africa lost early wickets. De Kock got duck, becoming the victim of Mohammad Irfan.
Faf du Plessis came to the crease, replacing de Kock. Plessis added 27 runs off 29 balls until Rahat Ali took his wicket.
Amla scored 38 runs off 27 balls before Wahab Riaz made him walk to the pavilion. Rilee Rossouw also added 6 runs. Rahat took David Miller, who also got duck facing 13 balls.
De Villiers was only player, who resisted the Pakistan pacers for a while, scoring 77 runs off 58 balls with seven fours and five sixes.
Earlier, Pakistan scored 222 runs all out in the revised playing conditions for 47-over-a-side match. According to the D/L methods South Africa needed 232 more runs for victory playing maximum 47 overs.
Only two bowlers could bowl a maximum of 10 overs, with a maximum of nine overs for the rest. There was ten minutes for lunch as well.
Earlier, rain stopped the play when Pakistan’s scoreboard was at 175 for five in 37 overs. The rain affected the play second time when they scored 197 for five in 40.1 overs.
Sarfraz Ahmed began Pakistan’s innings with Ahmed Shehzad (18 runs off 30 balls) on the other end of the crease.
Sarfraz scored 49 runs 49 balls with five fours and three sixes. Younis Khan contributed 37 runs off 44 balls. They also built a second-wicket 62-run partnership.
Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq hit his 42nd One Day International fifty, who has no ODI hundred yet.
Misbah and Shahid Afridi are not out with 51 runs off 74 balls and 11 runs off 9 balls respectively.
South Africa’s Dell Steyn took two wickets while AB de Villiers bagged one.
Earlier, South Africa captain de Villiers won the toss and decided to field. The match kicked off at 7:00am.
Duminy replaced Farhaan Behardien, strengthening the batting and also providing offspin to the part-time bowling department.
Pakistan made two changes to their side, one of them forced. Haris Sohail was not fit for the game, and Younis Khan came back. Finally the out-of-form Nasir Jamshed was dropped, and in came the enterprising and busy wicketkeeper-batsman Sarfraz Ahmed.
With this win, Pakistan keep its chance for a better place in quarter-finals. And beaiing defeatedm the fiery-looking South Africa missed their opportunity to confirm quarter-final of the tournament.
Sarfraz Ahmed became Man of the Match for his six catches and run-a-ball 49. “I am very thankful to the world and Pakistan for this opportunity. I want to thank all those who supported me, including my family. This is my World Cup debut match, but Mushie bhai (Mushtaq Ahmed) had good words for me to encourage me and told me to go out and enjoy myself,” said Sarfraz.
Wining captain Misbah-ul-Haq said: "This is a big win for us. Sarfraz played well [others also played well]. We were 30-40 runs short, but the bowlers did their job. The bowlers went for the kill, the only chance was to get wickets and get the opposition all out.”
“Beating South Africa, who are playing really good cricket, after that everybody believes now, the players, the team, can take a lot of confidence from it. When runs are on board, it is always pressure on the opposition," he added.
Defeated captain AB de Villiers said: "We are still in a good position in the group, but I never like to lose. We were shocking with the bat. We have been under pressure many times in the last few years and come out on top.”
“I still believe we have the right group here to lift the trophy. It wasn't easy (batting under lights). Still, a good enough wicket to chase that down, no reason we shouldn't have chased it down," he added.
BDST: 1511 HRS, MAR 07, 2015
