South Africa vs. Pakistan: http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757 Cruise to Comfortable 6-Wicket Win in 1st T20I
The South African side continue their rise in the shortest format of the game under their new captain http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 in the first match of the two-match T20 series.
The match played in front of a half-full Sheikh Zayed stadium in Abu Dhabi failed to live up to its reputation as the Pakistanis lost their third T20 international on the trot, and as was the case with their last two defeats, it
was another listless performance by the batsmen that let them down.
A confident http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shahid-Afridi-c2482, the captain of the Pakistan side, won the toss and elected to bat first. This was the seventh consecutive time that the men in green bat first in a T20 match, yet they failed to capitalise on a bright
start in the first over of the match to succumb to a paltry total of 119.
Imran Farhat (10 runs off 8 balls) scored two boundaries in a disciplined first over from Albie Morkel, yet the left-hander failed to make the most of his start and an unnecessary rush of blood saw him lose his wicket to left-armer
Lonwabo Tsotsobe in the next over.
His replacement Mohammad Hafeez struck a couple of stunning boundaries but failed to keep the scoreboard ticking regularly which built pressure on the other batsman http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shahzaib-Hasan-c2488, who attempted another big shot and holed out to
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/JP-Duminy-c1742 at the start of the 6th over after making only 9 runs.
Pakistan were in trouble soon after as Hafeez himself perished for 13 off 17 balls; he was smartly taken by Colin Ingram off a delivery by Johan Botha.
In came ‘Boom Boom’ Afridi and in traditional manner launched the first ball that he faced into the stands. He was not done and clouted two more gigantic sixes off Johan Botha, before his opposite number accounted for him in the
next ball.
Afridi was dismissed for 25 runs (scored off a mere 7 balls); however, his departure triggered a collapse as the remainder of the Pakistani batting line-up crumbled in a heap.
Umar Akmal (14 off 21), Abdul Razzaq (4 off 5 balls) and Zulqarnain Haider (1 off 4 balls) were all dismissed cheaply as the Proteas tightened the noose around the opposition.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Misbah-ul-Haq-c1972, who is making a comeback in the Pakistan team, was left high and dry as he attempted to hit out in the last two overs of the innings.
He hit a six in the last over of the innings, but his partner Shoaib Akhtar (3 runs off 2 balls) ran himself out on the next ball to draw curtains on a generally unimpressive batting performance.
For the Proteas, Tsotsobe was the pick of the bowlers, claiming 3 wickets for 16 runs. Botha captured 3 wickets of his own, conceding 31 runs off his 4 overs.
The South Africans started their innings in a shaky fashion: opener Loots Bosman (2 runs off 4 balls) was caught out in the cover region off Shoaib Akhtar and the Rawalpindi Express accounted for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/AB-de-Villiers-c887 (out for a duck)
in the same over to give Pakistan reason to rejoice early on.
There was more joy in store for them, as Graeme Smith perished attempting an outrageous cut shot off Mohammad Hafeez; he scored 13 runs off 12 deliveries.
The Proteas were then pulled out of the mire by a resolute partnership between JP Duminy (41 off 46 balls) and newcomer Colin Ingram (not out: 46 off 38 balls). The two Southpaws kept the required rate in control with their intelligent
batting.
The Pakistani spinners failed to exude the control needed over the game and Afridi leaked crucial boundaries in his two overs.
The Proteas coasted home in the penultimate over of the innings with six wickets in hand. The young pair of Ingram and Miller was in command when the winning run was taken off an Umar Gul delivery.
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