A resurgent Pakistan made an emphatic comeback from their dismal performance against India last week with a 47-run victory over South Africa in the 30th match of the World Cup at Lord's Cricket Ground on Sunday.
South Africa innings
Partnerships:
- Hashim Amla (2) and Quinton de Kock (1): 3 from 7 balls
- Quinton de Kock (46) and Faf du Plessis (41): 87 from 109 balls
- Faf du Plessis (5) and Aiden Markram (7): 12 from 23 balls
- Faf du Plessis and Rassie van der Dussen: 33 from 38 balls
- Rassie van der Dussen (20) and David Miller (30): 50 from 61 balls
- David Miller (1) and Andile Phehlukwayo (2): 3 from 7 balls
- Andile Phehlukwayo (13) and Chris Morris (16): 29 from 21 balls
- Andile Phehlukwayo (13) and Kagiso Rabada (3): 16 from 15 balls
- Andile Phehlukwayo (5) and Lungi Ngidi (1): 6 off 9 balls
- Andile Phehlukwayo and Imran Tahir
As the game opened, the Proteas appeared to be in danger of capsizing as Mohammad Amir struck early on, capturing Hashim Amla's wicket off his first delivery in his first over.
But Quinton de Kock and skipper Faf du Plessis held the ship steady after the initial loss, bringing up ─ and keeping ─ the run rate to a decent 7-something level.
Their 87-run partnership was terminated off a Shadab Khan delivery in the 20th over. De Kock dispatched the ball to the boundary, where Imamul Haq lay in wait; he dove to his left and scooped the ball up, just inches away from the ground.
Shadab struck again in the 24th over, sending Aiden Markram back to the pavilion with 7 runs to his name.
With skipper du Plessis at the crease along with Rassie van der Dussen, South Africa appeared to be in charge of the chase. The two batsmen had managed a 33-run partnership that brought South Africa up to 136. But then Amir attacked a second time, taking du Plessis' all-important scalp with some help from skipper Sarfaraz, who took the crucial catch for his side.
Two Wahab Riaz deliveries were dropped by Sarfaraz and Amir in the 37th over (Pakistan have dropped a whopping 6 catches this innings). But by then, chances of a comeback by the Proteas appeared to be fading, with the middle-order fighting back dutifully ─ but unsuccessfully ─ to bring up their run rate to the required 10.84 as the side tried to meet the the target of 141 runs from the remaining 78 deliveries.
Even as South Africa's middle-order were battling the pressure, Shadab Khan swooped in to steal another wicket. This time, he got van der Dussen to send a catch to Mohammad Hafeez in the 40th over. He turned up the heat on South Africa again, with Miller escaping a near-LBW.
In the next over, though, Shaheen Shah took care of that problem with a slow delivery. He sent the ball spinning off to the top of middle and leg, dismantling the stumps, leaving the Proteas with yet another man down.
Wahab Riaz put yet another nail in South Africa's coffin when he bowled Chris Morris for 16 runs in the 45th over, leaving the Proteas' bottom-order the unsavoury task of manning a sinking ship.
Pakistan innings
The match opened quietly, with a dull South Africa side lacking punch in their performance. Pakistan played cautiously, building up their total slowly without losing too many early wickets too soon.
The Proteas also perked up after some pressure on the Greenshirts by Imran Tahir seemed to inject energy into the South African side. Pakistan posted a total of 308 for 7 wickets as the stands, awash with green, cheered their team on.
The openers, Fakhar Zaman and Imamul Haq, maintained a steady strike rate, posting 50 in the 8th over, and pulling together a solid 81-run partnership before the former was dismissed.
