Cricket

“A rock solid performance from the men in green all but promises for a scintillating decider.

It was a wonderful day at the Wanderers, a place where Pakistan had not yet beaten the Proteas. The initial indications also did no good to Pakistan’s chances as Sarfaraz was handed a 4-match ban for his racist comments with Shoaib Malik acting as the Stand-in Captain. 

Pakistan looked to level the series by sending in South Africa to bat first after winning the toss. It all meant that early wickets were required and Shaheen Afridi did just that, carrying over his good form throughout the tour, by picking up two early wickets, with De Cock being trapped in front of the stumps and Hendricks knicking a loose one down the leg side, caught perfectly by Rizwan. 

Amla looked in real fine touch at the other end where he kept on punishing the rest of the bowling line up, hitting Shinwari for 3 boundaries in a single over. He was joined by the Skipper, Du Plessis, and together the pair continued the onslaught with both men reaching half-centuries and putting up a 100 run stand.

South Africa looked all set for a big target before Imad knocked over Amla followed by Faf who tried to Slog Sweep Shadab for the third time in the same over but eventually ended up skying a top spinner straight into the hands of Hafeez. Amir then took the important wicket of David Miller, out LBW. Shinwari, who was a tad too expensive in his 1st spell, also joined the action as he cleaned up the tail, almost picking up a hat-trick along the way. South Africa lost the last 8 wickets for 45 runs, setting up a target of 165.

Pakistan, despite the initial shaky start courtesy of a fine spell by Dale Steyn, responded very well with the bat with Fakher and Imam putting up a solid 70 run stand before Fakher fell prey to Imran Tahir for 44. Imam carried his fine form from the last match and scored yet another half-century supported brilliantly by Babar Azam who remained unbeaten at 41. With 1 run to go, Imam couldn’t resist the temptation to hit one out of the park and came down the track only to edge the ball safely into hands of De Cock and not being able to carry the bat as a result. Rizwan eventually hit the winning runs as Pakistan chased the target in 31.3 overs with 8 wickets to spare.

Faf rued the fact that his side couldn’t cope with the sticky conditions as Shinwari was handed the Man of The Match Award leading Pakistan to they’re first ever victoried at the Wanderers and inflicting The Proteas’ first-ever PinkDay defeat.

Now, at 2-2, the series is all squared up and it’s anyone’s game in the last ODI. Can Pakistan win back to back One Day series in South Africa or will The South Africans wrap up the One Day series as well?”

Regards,
Ahmer Zaman
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