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Wow! That's some way to ring in the weekend alright. If this was just a trailer, then we could be in for an action-packed thriller over the next couple of days. A double-header Saturday gets us going as Australia and New Zealand resume the Trans-Tasman rivalry in Dharamsala's final game of the tournament. As the first innings of that game draws to a close, the curtains will open up at the majestic Eden Gardens as Kolkata hosts the Netherlands and Bangladesh for its first match of this World Cup. Two cracking contests beckon - do join us for our coverage of both right here on Sportskeeda while keeping yourselves updated with further cricketing news and action from around the world on this very platform. For the moment, this is the duo of Arya Sekhar Chakraborty and Sooryanarayanan Sesha heading off to catch our breaths after that humdinger. See you tomorrow as we thank you for being a part of this rollercoaster ride today. Good night and here's to a great weekend!
'Too many one-sided matches' - that was the narrative all along but it has been put to rest at last. South Africa and Pakistan. Two mercurial, enigmatic teams who just find a way to get into interesting situations. In front of a spectacular crowd in Chennai that threw its weight behind both teams and was in for a superb game of cricket in the last match of the World Cup at the venue. This was the script the World Cup needed all along, eh?
It would have thrown the tournament wide open had Pakistan come up trumps but instead, they've suffered a fourth consecutive World Cup defeat for the first time in their history. The curtains are coming down for Babar Azam and his men, who just look lost for answers now. As for South Africa, they're sitting pretty on top with 10 points although India have an extra game in hand. Either way, the semifinals look a mere formality now for Temba Bavuma and Co. with that supremely high net run-rate. From the lows of 2019, the Proteas have bounced back in some style haven't they? Of course, questions remain over their chasing blueprint and the skipper was candid in his assessment of the same. But for now, they will savor this win.
Temba Bavuma (South Africa captain): (How's the dressing room?) It's a bit of chaos at the moment. The guys are enjoying the moment. Nail-biting finish. Speaking for a South African fan you're a little bit happy. It's been a pressure with us chasing. We haven't done well to rectify that. We've had those conversations and it's a bit easier to have those conversations now with the win. You need to have the guys over there in the pressure situations to speak out what they were thinking. Hard to say now, I'm still enjoying the win myself but we will have those conversations. It's something that we've spoken about and has been thrown about. We have a blueprint and a method batting first. We can't say with conviction that we have the blueprint while we're chasing. We'll obviously want to show a lot more of a clinical display with the bat. That's nice to know (that we're on top of the table). (How's Rabada?) KG's good - more precautionary. He is experiencing a little back spasm. Couple of days to rest so I'm sure he'll come into contention for that game (in Pune). Ecstatic for Shamsi - he started it with the ball. He then did it with the bat. We needed him today and fortunately for us he came good. Superb from a senior player like Shamsi to get through a pressure moment like that.
Babar Azam (Pakistan captain): Yes to be honest, we were very close but couldn't finish it. Everyone in the camp is disappointed. We fought back really well but in batting, we were 10-15 runs short. This is part of the game, I think, if they give out, it would have been favor for us. Umpire's call is part of the game. Yes, because we fought very well, at this point, we had the opportunity to win this match and stay in the tournament but it's looking difficult for us now. We will try our best in the next three matches. Let's see where we stand after those three matches.
Tabraiz Shamsi (Player of the Match): Yeah really happy. Obviously, I knew had to do a job there but the guys who bowled before me set up the match and it always helps. Really happy, I have played enough cricket to understand that sometimes it goes for you and sometimes it doesn't. I wasn't expecting to be giving the interview with pads on. The four runs are a special one for me. If I tried to play a big shot and it didn't come off, the boys wouldn't have let me in. So I was sure in my mind, that I was not playing a big shot. Keshav was brilliant and Lungi before him as well.
Match Summary: South Africa beat Pakistan by 1 wicket.
Sheer bedlam! Maharaj thumped his chest Tarzan style upon sealing the win for his team. That's how much this means to him. South Africa had no business taking it this close but then, this is South Africa in a run chase we're talking about. Eventually, all's well that ends well.
The Proteas were in cruise control for large parts of their chase. Quinton de Kock picked up from where he left off against Bangladesh with a flurry of boundaries as Pakistan's decision to open the bowling with Iftikhar Ahmed backfired. De Kock timed one a bit too well to his liking and picked out deep square leg but skipper Temba Bavuma was in superb touch as South Africa kept the tempo going positively.
Bavuma was guilty of throwing it away though with Mohammad Wasim bowling with good pace and hitting the perfect lengths. In walked Aiden Markram and he was a man possessed, reeling out drool-worthy shots like only he can. He did flirt with danger, often chancing a risky single and getting away with it as the throw failed to hit the stumps while quite a few streaky shots over backward point also followed. But even as Rassie van der Dussen suffered a rather controversial LBW call thanks to ball tracking and Heinrich Klaasen threw it away, Markram kept South Africa in pole position.
David Miller lived dangerously despite clobbering a couple of deliveries over the fence. He was nicked out by a Shaheen Afridi ripper, even as Marco Jansen swung for the fences himself before losing his wicket. Things suddenly got tense - just liked you'd expect from a Pakistan-South Africa contest with history suggesting that it's a case of who blinks first with these two teams in questions.
As long as Markram was out there, this was always South Africa's game. Except, he threw it away at the most untimely juncture as he went for a big shot again off Usama Mir, who by the way came on as a concussion substitute for an injured Shadab Khan. Shaheen then nipped Gerald Coetzee in the bud and it came down to the last three to see off a tense chase for the Proteas. Lungi Ngidi and Keshav Maharaj knocked it around and took their time with that factor not being an issue as such. Haris Rauf then produced a moment of magic with the Proteas still needing 11 runs, plucking a one-handed stunner off his own bowling to send Ngidi back.
Tabraiz Shamsi then held his nerve as the seamers were played out with Shaheen not quite attacking the stumps and Wasim spearing a couple of wides down the leg-side. A huge moment followed when Shamsi was adjudged LBW off Haris Rauf, only for ball tracking to return umpire's call on the review. And then, with five runs required, a single and a four square of short fine leg sealed it for South Africa as Mohammad Nawaz erred in line and Maharaj held his nerve to spark delirious celebrations. That was quite a game - one that this magnificent crowd in Chennai so dearly deserved!
Delirium in Chennai! Maharaj is the King for South Africa! Relief on the faces of the South African spectators. Absolute ecstasy for the Proteas and it's agony of the same proportion for Pakistan. Babar Azam doesn't seem happy with that delivery and Mohammad Nawaz is at the receiving end of another heartbreak. South Africa cling on for dear life by a lone wicket!
47.2 Mohammad Nawaz to Keshav Maharaj, FOUR! South Africa win and it's Maharaj who has pulled it off. A bit of brilliance from Maharaj, he held his nerves and finished it off for South Africa. A short one angling down leg and that has been helped away towards the deep backward square leg region for a boundary.
Well done Tabraiz Shamsi. Now then - does Maharaj go for the jugular? 4 runs needed...
47.1 Mohammad Nawaz to Tabraiz Shamsi, Shamsi takes the single. Flatter on a length around off, worked away with soft hands towards the square leg region for a single.
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A Markram
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MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai
