Pakistan v http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757 – 2nd T20I – Match Recap
Pakistan 195/7 v South Africa 100 - Pakistan won by 95 runs
On Sunday, 03 March, Pakistan thrashed hosts South Africa in the second T20I by 95 runs at SuperSport Park, Centurion. With South Africa having whitewashed http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 in the three-match Test series 3-0 and the first T20I abandoned due to rain, this was Pakistan’s
only chance to save the two-match T20 series and redeem some lost pride.
With http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mohammad-Hafeez-c76898 as the captain of the T20 side, Pakistan chose to bat first after winning the toss. This seemed like an odd choice as the wicket is famous for becoming easier to bat on later in the day at the Centurion.
However, Pakistan were in full swing right from the get go as they knew enough runs on the board will put them in a comfortable position.
Openers http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ahmed-Shehzad-c42359 launched an early onslaught, reaching boundaries regularly.
Finally, with 29 runs on the board, South Africa struck by nabbing the wicket of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Jamshed-c66276, who was caught after scoring 13 runs off 13 deliveries.
This brought Hafeez in the middle and another nightmare for the hosts as the Pakistani captain who lacked form in the Test matches was a different man in the T20I as he exhibited tremendous footwork with outstanding shot selection.
The wicket seemed too easy for Hafeez to be batting on, while for the South Africans this had now become the hardest surface to bowl on.
The second-wicket partnership between Shehzad and the skipper led Pakistan to 112 runs, before Shehzad threw away his wicket on a run out after belting an impressive knock of 46 runs.
This was the breakthrough the South Africans were looking for, however, with Hafeez still active the hosts failed to dent the scoring rate.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Umar-Akmal-c94595, who was there to support the skipper and then launch an onslaught later in the innings, was least affective as he lost his wicket after bolstering only 11 runs off six deliveries. At the time of his dismissal, Pakistan had managed to pile 155
runs on the board.
The South Africans needed to do something exceptional in order to stop Pakistan from going beyond 200 runs.
Finally, their prayers were answered when Hafeez, while playing Kleinveldt, stepped on his stumps, dislodging the bails, eventually resulting in his demise. The all-rounder smacked a remarkable 86-run knock before hitting the showers.
The lower-order was not that affected as http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shahid-Afridi-c2482 was the highest scorer with an unbeaten 19-run knock.
While http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mohammad-Junaid-Khan-c77037 took the first wicket with South Africa on only 20 runs, it was seamer Umar Gul’s day, who finished with five wickets in 2.2 overs for only six runs to decapitate South Africa for 100 runs.
Hafeez, who was the second best bowler with three wickets to his name, was named as the Player of the Match.
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