Champions Trophy 2017, Pakistan vs South Africa: Five talking points
In yet another rain-affected game in the ongoing edition of the Champions Trophy, Pakistan overcame a strong South African side and emerged victorious by 19 runs at Edgbaston, Birmingham.
There have been two washouts and two rain-affected games in the seven contests so far in this tournament. However, Pakistan didn’t complain much about the rain as they gained two crucial points to keep their chances of making it to the semi-final alive.
After winning the toss, the South African skipper AB de Villiers opted to bat first. However, the choice wasn’t a fruitful one as an inspired Pakistan bowling attack put on an impressive performance to restrict a strong Proteas batting line-up to 219.
After losing a heap of wickets in the middle overs, South Africa looked in deep trouble. But, David Miller played a responsible knock (75* off 104 balls) and was ably supported by the lower-middle order - first by Chris Morris and then Kagiso Rabada - to post a competitive target on the board.
Extra cover: Champions Trophy 2017, Pakistan vs South Africa: Hasan Ali's devastating spell is the SK Turning Point of the Match
While all the bowlers of Pakistan had a great day, Hasan Ali and Imad Wasim stood out. The youngsters bowled with great discipline and deservedly shared five wickets between them. After playing at a less than impressive run-rate initially, Miller looked to break free at the end. But, both Mohammad Amir Junaid Khan were excellent with their yorkers and gave very few away.
However, given the unpredictability of the Pakistan batting, a target of 220 was not all that discouraging for the de Villiers-led side. Some sensible batting from the Pakistani batsmen, helped by the rain, won them the game, though.
Here are five talking points from the game:
#1 The South African collapse
After choosing to bat first, South Africa got off to a pretty decent start as the openers Hashim Amla and Quinton de Kock put on 40 runs for the first wicket before Amla got out LBW to the left armer Imad Wasim.
Things looked pretty good for South Africa considering they were batting first. However, the innings lost its path as Pakistan kept chipping away with wickets at regular intervals. It was Imad Wasim, who hurt South Africa initially.
First, he removed Amla and then he got rid of the dangerous AB de Villiers as the Proteas Skipper mistimed one off the very first ball to be caught at point. Faf de Plessis too got out after a start and JP Duminy’s poor run continued as he poked at a seaming delivery by Hasan Ali and was out caught behind.
If it wasn’t for David Miller’s responsible innings the scoreboard could have been a very embarrassing one South Africa. But, take nothing away from the Pakistan bowlers. They stuck to their plans and built pressure by bowling dot balls to bring out wrong shots.