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Champions Trophy 2017 Pakistan v/s South Africa highlights: Pakistan Win By 19 Runs in Rain Affected Clash

7 years ago
by Aiman
Champions Trophy 2017 Pakistan v/s South Africa highlights: Pakistan Win By 19 Runs in Rain Affected Clash

Champions Trophy 2017 Pakistan v/s South Africa highlights : Pakistan picked up an important couple of points in their rain-affected match against the No.1 ODI team South Africa, defeating the star-studded team by 19 runs (D/L method) at Edgbaston, Birmingham today. After their listless performance against India where they were handed out a massive 96 run defeat, the win against South Africa will put some wind in the sails of their Champions Trophy campaign, and a win against Sri Lanka in their last league match will put them within hitting distance of a spot in the semi finals.

It was a day for the Pakistani bowlers today as they restricted the powerful South African batting line up to a paltry score of 219-8 in the allotted 50 overs. With rain very likely as the clouds loomed overhead, the chase got heated as Pakistan swung above and below the par score for a win using the Duckworth-Lewis method. Pakistan were off to a flyer as the debutant batsmen Fakhar Zaman made quite an impression with a fine 21-ball 31, which included six fours, helping Pakistan put on 31 runs in the first 5 overs. However, the South Africans struck back almost immediately with Morne Morkel, who removed both the openers (including the dangerous looking Zaman) in the space of three balls. Some accurate fast bowling with a hint of movement caused a lot of trouble for the batsmen, and three successive maidens and no runs for 19 successive deliveries meant that Pakistan had fallen below the par score, reaching their 50 only in the 13th over.

Babar Azam and Mohammad Hafeez held their ends, though, and it seemed that they would weather the storm. However, that was not to be as AB de Villiers tossed the ball back to the trusted Morkel, who did not disappoint and claimed Hafeez, caught by Tahir off an attempted pull. Hafeez’s departure brought on skipper Shoaib Malik, and the pair added 26 runs at a run rate well over run-a-ball, taking Pakistan to 119 for 3 in 27 overs. This was when the drizzle became a downpour, refusing to give up and forcing the authorities to award the match to Pakistan, who were ahead by 19 runs on the D/L basis.

Earlier today, it was the spinners who brought the Pakistan side to life as Imad Wasim and Mohammad Hafiz combined to cripple South Africa’s top order, reducing them to 118 for 6 at one stage. It was only David Miller who faced the Pakistan bowlers with any measure of success, scoring an unbeaten 75 off 104 deliveries, his slowest half century ever. Pacer Hasan Ali also returned with strong figures of 3-24 in 8 overs, as he first claimed Faf du Plessis in a dangerous partnership of 29 runs with Miller, and then JP Duminy and AB de Villiers off successive deliveries to strike a double blow from which the Proteas batsmen never recovered. A last-ditch effort by Miller with Chris Morris took South Africa past the 200 mark, but their perennial bad luck with the D/L method came home again as they were eventually denied a possible shot at a win.

Pakistan Vs South Africa CT2017 Result :

Match called off; PAK win by 19 runs

About the author

Aiman

Keenly interested in sports of all sorts, I am a physicist by training and curious about everything.

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