South Africa beat Pakistan to stay alive in Champions Trophy

Birmingham – South Africa defeated Pakistan in a must win game at Edgbaston here Monday to keep themselves alive in the Champions Trophy.

Hashim Amla (81) top-scored in South Africa’s 234 for nine and their depleted bowling attack was good enough to dismiss Pakistan for 167 in 45 overs. Skipper Misbah-ul-Haq (55) batted for long but could not get his team over the line.

It was a crucial game for both teams as they had lost their opening matches of the tournament. South Africa play their last league match against the West Indies June 14 while Pakistan face arch-rivals India June 15.

Though the Proteas did not have the services of Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn, they had enough armour to trouble the Paksitani batsmen on a slow surface.

Pakistan made an awful start to their chase, crawling to 18 for two in the first 10 overs.

They kept on losing wickets at regular intervals with the run rate mounting by every over.

They needed 94 off the last 60 balls but their slim hopes were dashed when Misbah departed while trying to accelerate, making it 148 for seven in 48.3 overs.

Opener Nasir Jamshed was the other main scorer in the innings, making 42 at a strike rate of 55.26.

Earlier, Amla set the launch pad for South Africa through his 97-ball effort. The other batsmen who chipped in were captain Ab de Villiers (31), Faf du Plessis (28) and JP Duminy (24).