South Africa edged out http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 in a nail biter
South Africa defeated Pakistan by 3 runs in the third One Day International (ODI) of the five match ODI series at Dubai International stadium with sensational outstanding performances from Hashim Amla, who was adjudged Man-of-the-Match
and Morne Morkell.
Fawad Alam’s gutsy knock of fifty-nine runs was not enough to take Pakistan home. It would have been Pakistan’s second consecutive victory over South Africa as in the last match Abdul Razzaq defied the odds to seal an impressive victory
for his side, which would go down in history books as one of the greatest innings of all time in ODI history.
Pakistan and South Africa have produced two outstanding ODIs in a row providing maximum entertainment to fans at a time when question marks are being raised over the credibility of the game.
Set a target off 229 runs Pakistan started defensively as nerves got the better of Pakistan’s batsman. In-form opener Mohammad Hafeez got out early when he was caught by South African skipper, Johan Botha, in the slips off Tsotsobe
when he was at four runs.
Younis Khan, who has came back into the side and has been a calming influence on the team since then failed to spread his magic and perished on naught. He too was caught in the slips by Botha off a beauty from Morne Morkel as he failed
to judge the line and length of the delivery.
Then came the upcoming talented batsman Asad Shafiq, who impressed during the ODI series against England. He was demoted to number 4 after failing to make an impression as an opener and he proved his credentials by playing a gallant
knock alongside under fire Imran Farhat.
The duo steadied the ship for Pakistan by taking singles and doubles to help keep the scoreboard ticking along smoothly. They played sensibly by getting odd boundaries whenever there was a bad ball to offer they pounced on it and contributed
eighty-five runs for the third wicket partnership to bring Pakistan back into the game.
But as it started to look that the two set batsman will help the run chase become easier for the latter batsman, an ill-timed run out of Imran Farhat ended the partnership.
The demise of Farhat brought in the heartbeat of millions, Shahid Afridi, a man who has been named Boom Boom Afridi by his die hard lovers. The public greeted him with a loud roar and he didn’t disappoint for once as he struck a lusty
blow off http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Johan-Botha-c67173 which earned him a six over the covers.
Botha has been taken on by the Pakistani skipper in last matches but his South African counterpart got the better of him by bringing back Morne Morkel into the attack.
The decision worked instantly as Morkel gave his side a much needed wicket to send Afridi packing home to the dressing room. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/AB-de-Villiers-c887.
From there on Pakistan’s batting line-up lost the track and nobody could help Fawad Alam take Pakistan home.
Wahab Riaz though played a cameo scoring twenty one runs off eleven balls. In the end Pakistan managed only 226 runs and lost the match by 3 runs. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Morne-Morkel-c77722 chipped in with four wickets.
Earlier http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757 were put in to bat first after Pakistan won the toss and elected to field. The decision paid dividend as only Hashim Amla was able to put on a fight single handedly.
Shoaib Akhtar was back to his best as he removed Kallis and in-form Ingram early. Hashim played for whole fifty overs scoring a brilliant 119 runs to put a decent total on the board. The other main contributor was http://www.senore.com/Cricket/JP-Duminy-c1742, who scored
twenty-six runs on a run-shy pitch. Shoaib Akhtar grabbed 3 wickets for Pakistan.
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