Sydney, 3 November 2022: Pakistan buried the ghost of last week’s heartbreaking last-ball loss to India when they had failed to defend 48 runs in 18 balls by defeating pre-tournament favourites South Africa by 33 runs on the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern Method in their fourth Group-2 fixture in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022.
Pakistan, defending 47 runs in 18 balls on Thursday after South Africa’s 186-run target was revised to 142 in 14 overs following a rain break, conceded just 13 runs as the Proteas were limited to 108 for nine in 14 overs. South Africa were 69 for four in nine overs when rain came down and forced the target to be recalculated on the DLS Method.
Mohammad Wasim conceded four runs in the 12th over and dismissed Wayne Parnell, Naseem Shah sent Tristan Stubbs packing while giving away two runs and Haris Rauf’s last over cost seven runs and produced the wickets of Kagiso Rabada (run-out) and Anrich Nortje as Pakistan demonstrated an outstanding death bowling display to notch up their second successive victory.
Following the last-ball loss to India, Pakistan had suffered another last-ball setback against Zimbabwe before they routed the Netherlands by six wickets and now South Africa by 33 runs. They will now play Bangladesh on Sunday in Adelaide and will not only aim for a third successive victory, but will also hope for either India versus Zimbabwe or South Africa versus the Netherlands results go in their favour so that they can progress to the semifinals.
After four matches, India lead the points table (six points, +0.730 NNR), followed by South Africa (five points, +1.441), Pakistan (four points, +1.117), Bangladesh (four points, -1.276), Zimbabwe (three points, -0.313) and the Netherlands (two points, -1.233).
Earlier, Shadab Khan and Iftikhar Ahmed struck electrifying half-centuries and put on 82 runs for the sixth wicket in 36 balls, while Mohammad Haris hit a quick-fire 11-ball 28 as Pakistan recovered from 43 for four to 185 for nine.
Shadab slapped three fours and four sixes in a 22-ball 52, while Iftikhar clubbed three fours and two sixes in a 35-ball 51. Iftikhar was also involved in a 52-run fifth wicket partnership from 39 balls with Mohammad Nawaz, who contributed 28 off 22 balls with four fours and a six.
Despite the early departures of Mohammad Rizwan (four), Babar Azam (six) and Shan Masood (two), Iftikhar not only anchored the innings but in association with Mohammad Nawaz and Shadab Khan ensured Pakistan collected 117 runs in the last 10 overs, including 65 runs in the last five overs.
With 186 runs to defend, Shaheen Shah Afridi came out all guns blazing when he picked up the wickets of Quinton de Kock and Rilee Rossouw in a space of five balls and Shadab Khan sent Temba Bavuma (36) and Aiden Markram (20) back in the hut in the space of three balls as South Africa slipped to 66 for four.
When play resumed, Shaheen added the scalp of Heinrich Klaasen (15) to finish with impressive figures of 3-0-14-3 to end all speculations about his fitness, while Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf and Mohammad Wasim Junior picked up a wicket each.
Scores in brief:
Match 36 – Pakistan beat South Africa by 33 runs (revised target 142, 14 overs; DLS Method)
Pakistan 185-9, 20 overs (Shadab Khan 52, Iftikhar Ahmed 51, Mohammad Nawaz 28, Mohammad Haris 28; Anrich Nortje 4-41)
South Africa 108-9, 14 overs (Temba Bavuma 36, Aiden Markram 20; Shaheen Shah Afridi 3-14, Shadab Khan 2-16)
Player of the match – Shadab Khan (Pakistan)
Pakistan’s next match – vs Bangladesh, Adelaide, 6 November (0900 PKT)
