Abdul Razzaq century seals stunning win for Pakistan
It was a match that was needed by Pakistan to start believing in themselves after they had threatened to fall by the wayside in the series. And it was made possible by an innings that could best be described
as a once-in-a-blue-moon knock by Abdul Razzaq. Razzaq overcame a sluggish start to smash 10 sixes and seven fours in his innings of an unbeaten 109 (102 balls) to help http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 beat South Africa in the second ODI at Abu Dhabi by a slender margin of one wicket
and will one ball to spare.
Razzaq came on to bat at the number seven position when captain http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shahid-Afridi-c2482 had just been dismissed for 49 and the Pakistani hopes had just fallen away. At this stage, Pakistan needed 151 runs to win the
game off around 30 overs with only five wickets standing. In short, the probability of Pakistan winning the game was as low as it could get, especially given the manner in which they had played in recent times.
Razzaq had other ideas. He played out his first nine balls for five runs before hitting his first six of the innings. Four balls without runs in the same over were followed by another boundary to set the
dice rolling.
And yet, by the time it was the start of the 38th over, Pakistan looked like they hadn’t done enough. 112 runs were required off the last 13 overs and apart from http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Razzaq-c84421 it was only the tail batting. Even
then, Razzaq did not go on a rampage. There was that odd six and a four every over to keep the team within sniffing distance, but wickets kept falling at the other end.
When the last five overs began, 54 runs were required but Pakistan had only three wickets standing. Just one run came off the 46th over to bring a steep climb in the asking rate with 53 runs needed off four
overs – a virtually impossible task even by T20 standards.
It was here that Razzaq took the initiative and turned the match around with a mesmerizing three sixes in one over. However, Wahab Riaz was run-out in the same over and then Albie Morkel gave away eight runs
but prized out number nine for his side. This meant that Pakistan needed 25 off the last two and with one wicket standing which was brought down to 14 off the last over.
Morkel bowled the last over and was smashed away for a couple of sixes and a four to allow Razzaq his century and more importantly, a win over the South Africans.
Earlier, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/JP-Duminy-c1742.
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