PAK vs SA (Match 36) – Highlights
Pakistan survived the semi-final race by getting their second victory in the current T20 World Cup by defeating South Africa. On Thursday, Babar Azam’s team got a 33-run win in the rain-hit Sydney match by the Duckworth-Lewis method.
Shadab Khan was selected as the player of the match by showing his amazing skill with the bat and ball. After playing a tornado innings of 52 runs off 22 balls with the bat, he took 2 wickets with 16 runs in 2 overs with the ball. With this win, Pakistan is now third in the points table with 4 points from 4 matches. South Africa is second with 5 points and India is at the top with 6 points.
Batting first, Pakistan was shocked at the beginning. Inform Mohammad Rizwan (4) was bowled after hitting Wayne Parnell a four. After that, Captain Babar Azam could not last long. He was trying to advance the innings by playing patiently. But he (6 off 15) got caught by Kagiso Rabada while hitting Lungi Ngidi.
However, Mohammad Haris gave Pakistan a bit of a lead after handling the initial collapse. He replaced the injured Fakhar Zaman and entered the field for the first time in the World Cup. He started attacking the Protea pacers from the beginning. However, this devastating batter could not stay at the crease for longer. Haris (28 off 11) was trapped in lbw while batting crosswise off Anrich Nortje.
Pakistan reached a challenging score after losing five wickets for 95 runs, with the help of two batsmen Iftikhar Ahmed and Shadab Khan. Among them, Shadab was more aggressive. He scored 52 runs off 22 balls with the help of three fours and four sixes.
And Iftikhar scored 51 runs off 35 balls. He hit three fours and two sixes. With the score of these two, Pakistan set a big target of 186 runs to win against South Africa. Anrich Nortje took the maximum of 4 wickets for South Africa.
South Africa came under pressure early on in the run chase. In-form Quinton de Kock and Rilee Rossouw got out at the beginning. Proteas lost 2 wickets for 16 runs.
After a poor performance in the current tournament, Temba Bavuma was showing signs of being in rhythm in this match. But he was preyed on by Shadab and returned to the pavilion after scoring 36 runs off 19 balls. At the same over, this Pakistani leg-spinner also sent Aiden Markram (20) to the dressing room. And those two wickets turned the match.
When South Africa scored 69 in 9 overs, the rain started. The umpires were forced to stop the match. As the local time passed 9:30, it was almost certain that the over would be reduced. It was also clear that South Africa would have a tough target ahead of them. Besides, they would have lost by 15 runs if the match did not start again.
But as the game started later, South Africa lost more wickets, and their target also increased. The match was reduced to 14 overs. Where South Africa needed 142 runs, in other words, they had to score 73 runs in five overs.
Heinrich Klaasen and Tristan Stubbs started well. They scored nearly 30 runs in the first two overs. But the Proteas could not maintain that rhythm. In the next three overs, everyone got out while batting. And South Africa’s innings stopped at 108 runs.
As a result, Babar Azam’s team left the field with a victory of 33 runs. Also, there was a slim chance of them going to the semi-finals. Apart from Shadab Khan for Pakistan, Shaheen Afridi took the maximum of 3 wickets with 14 runs in 3 overs. Besides, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, and Mohammad Wasim took 1 wicket each.
PAK vs SA Scoreboard
Pakistan – 185/9 (20.0)
South Africa – 108/9 (14.0)
Result – Pakistan won by 33 runs – 2nd inns reduced to 14 overs (D/L method) – Target 142
Player of the match – Shadab Khan
PAK vs SA Playing XIs
| PAK | Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Haris, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shan Masood, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, and Haris Rauf. |
| SA | Temba Bavuma (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Rilee Rossouw, Heinrich Klaasen, Aiden Markram, Tristan Stubbs, Kagiso Rabada, Wayne Parnell, Lungi Ngidi, Tabraiz Shamsi, and Anrich Nortje. |