Col (Retd) Rafi Nasim
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3rd Match: Pakistan v South Africa at Colombo, 8 Jul 2000 Col (Retd) Rafi Nasim |
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Pakistan innings:
Pre-game: South Africa innings: |
Mushtaq Ahmed who came in could not stay for long. He became the victim of a miraculous catch by Jonty Rhodes off Boje for 2. Pakistan was 9 down for 192. Arshad Khan the last man joined Younis Khan at the crease, to stand and wait for the inevitable. Pakistan was at the verge of humiliating defeat.
The 200 of Pakistan's innings came in the 47th over. Scoring 42 runs in 3 overs being an impossible task, the batsmen had only to pass the time and watch how the last wicket fell? The result was written on the wall and they could read it quite clearly. In 49 overs Pakistan was 215 for 9.
Pakistan's innings ended at 223 for 9. Younis Khan (38) and Arshad Khan (11) were the not out batsmen. With a dramatic haul of 4 for 25 Nikki Boje routed Pakistan. South Africa won the match by 18 runs.
All said and done, the humiliating defeat that Pakistan suffered was of its own making. Having secured a 1st wicket stand of 100 runs it was lack of application, planning and fighting spirit that became instrumental in Pakistan's defeat. Some of the umpiring decisions also went against Pakistan.
South Africa struck immediately again when Yousuf Youhana was clean bowled by Boje for 2 at the same score. Pakistan lost the 5th wicket also at 154. Having lost 3 wickets within a span of only 5 runs, South Africa was back into the game, keeping Pakistan under tremendous pressure.
Skipper Moin Khan and young Younis Khan were at the crease now. Both are quite capable of taking Pakistan through to the target. How do they survive the pressure and advance towards the goal has to be seen. Pakistan met the next tragedy when Moin Khan was declared LBW to Pollock for 7 runs, on a ball suspected to have played by him. Pakistan was almost down in the dumps at 170 for 6. After 40 overs Pakistan was 178 for 6. Younis Khan and Abdur Razzaq were struggling at the crease.
Azhar Mahmood came in to bat. While he was trying to settle down, his partner Imran Nazir was on the rampage after completing his half-century. In the 22nd over he delighted the crowd by smashing Hayward for a four to gully. In the next over he drove Ntini for a straight four.
Not intimidated by the South African bowlers, the Pakistani batsmen were in full command of the game. While Azhar Mahmood was keeping his end intact by scoring singles and twos, Imran Nazir was ruthlessly punishing the bowlers all over the field. In the 28th over, South Africa, however, missed a chance when Azhar Mahmood snicked Klusener in the 1st slip region, the ball pashing an inch away from the wicket keeper's gloves. This could have been a golden break through for South Africa.
In the 30th over South Africa achieved the break through that they prayed for. On a delivery from Klusener that came in slightly, Imran Nazir was bowled after playing a heroic and invaluable innings of 80 runs. Pakistan lost the most precious 2nd wicket at 144. Inzamam-ul-Haq took the crease while the over ended at 145, with Azhar Mahmood playing at 18.
Continuing with his run spree, Imran Nazir drove Ntini to covers for a 4, followed by a straight drive, that was cut off inches short of the boundary line. With a drive to covers for two Imran Nazir completed his highly attractive 50 of the innings that comprised of 7 hits to the boundary.
Pakistan's 100 of the innings came in the 20th over through a single by Imran Nazir. Earlier Saeed Anwar had flicked Hayward to fine leg but took only one run where two were possible. He purposely did so, to provide young Imran Nazir the honour to hoist Pakistan's hundred, which he did. It was an excellent gesture by Saeed Anwar for the encouragement of a youngster.
In 20 overs Pakistan was 101 for no loss with Imran Nazir (55) and Saeed Anwar (39) in full command of the game.
Saeed Anwar added a boundary to the score when he hooked Kallis for a four in the 6th over. The batsmen were playing lot of good shots but they were mostly cut off by well-placed South Africa fielders. Imran Nazir was generally defensive playing shots according to the book. In the process he flicked Kallis to the fine leg boundary for a four in the 8th over.
In the next over Saeed Anwar played a similar shot off Pollock to collect a four. Hayward came to bowl and was smashed for two consecutive fours by Imran Nazir. A little later Saeed Anwar also flicked Hayward to mid wicket but was cut off close to the boundary line by Nikki Boje. In 10 overs Pakistan was 53 for no loss with Saeed Anwar (26) and Imran Nazir (21) facing South African with full confidence.
With the overs coming to a quick end, the batsmen were trying hard to collect the maximum possible runs but the fielders became equally agile. South Africa lost the 4th wicket when Jonty Rhodes was bowled by Razzaq for 13, rendering South Africa to 220 for 4, in the 47th over.
Lance Klusener came in and smashed Razzaq to extra cover for a four. The hero of the South Africa's innings, Jacques Kallis was atlast back to the pavilion, caught by Shuaib Malik for a marvelous innings of 83. He tried a big hit off Abdur Razzaq and lost the wicket with the score board showing South Africa 232 for 5.
In the last over Lance Klusener was subjected to a very close appeal for run out that was declined by the TV umpire. On the last ball of the innings he tried a big hit and was caught by Imran Nazir off Azhar Mahmood for 14. South Africa's innings thus ended at a score of 241 for 6. With 3 wickets for 36 runs, Abdur Razzaq was the best bowler.
South Africa's total of 241 is quite a good fighting score, though they were expected to end up around 260-270 runs. With lot of wickets in hand their battle for quick runs started rather too late. In view of the brittleness that Pakistan's batting showed against Sri Lanka, a target of 242 is not an easy one.
There was a change of ball after 35 overs, Waqar Younis using it. The 150 of South Africa's innings came in this over. Cullinan brought a little thrill when he came down the pitch to hit a six off Mushtaq Ahmed but the ball fell a little short of long on boundary. With the drive for a single off Waqar Younis in the 38th over Kallis completed his invaluable 50. Cullinan at last succeeded in his plan, when he came down the wicket again and hit Mushtaq Ahmed over the long on boundary for first six of the match.
Cullinan could not, however, continue with his adventurism, he was run out after scoring a rapid 38, bringing South Africa down to 175 for 3. In 40 overs South Africa was 176 for 3, Kallis going strong with a well-played 52. The Pakistan bowlers having failed to make an impact, South Africa were continuing to pile up runs.
South Africa lost a valuable wicket, when trying a big hit off Mushtaq Ahmed Gary Kirsten gave a flying catch to Razzaq at long on, after playing a brilliant innings of 52 runs. South Africa lost the 2nd wicket at 114.
Daryll Cullinan came to bat and started off steadily. But for a good wicket that South Africa lost there was nothing spectacular in the 3rd spell of 10 overs. In 30 overs, South Africa was 128 for 2 with Kallis (40) and Cullinan (3) at the crease. Despite a steady rate of scoring South Africa remains in control of the game.
Jacques Kallis came in to bat and drove Razzaq to the cover point boundary for a four. The pace of scoring having slumped, this boundary came after a lapse of few overs. By keeping a tight line Razzaq was helpful in keeping the score low.
Though Garry Kirsten continued to be at the crease, this spell of 10 overs was far less enterprising than the first. Off spinner Arshad Khan came to bowl conceding 3 runs in the over. In 20 overs South Africa was at 86 for 1, Kirsten (43) and Kallis (11) holding the crease. This spell of 10 overs yielded 29 runs as compared to 57 of the first spell.
South Africa opened the innings with Andrew Hall and Gary Kirsten. Waqar Younis launched the attack and was powerfully hooked to square leg by Hall who got off the mark with a four. Azhar Mahmood bowled from the other end. Pakistan's other speedster Mohammad Akram was dropped from the side to make place for leg spinner Mushtaq Ahmed. The pitch being slow, the change was made perhaps to strengthen the spin department.
The second exciting boundary of the day came when Kirsten drove Waqar Younis to extra cover for a four. He repeated the stroke to snatch another four from Waqar who conceded 13 runs in the over.
In the next over Kirsten lifted Azhar Mahmood to mid wicket boundary and followed by adding up another four through a square drive. With a spate of hits to the boundary, South Africa were piling up runs quite rapidly. Pakistan's pace attack not bothering the openers much they were able to collect 41 runs in the first 7 overs.
In the 9th over Hall snicked a slow delivery from Waqar Younis for a four through the slips registering 50 of the innings. With 57 runs without loss in the first 10 overs and the opening pair of Kirsten (28) and Hall (25) going strong, it was an excellent start for South Africa.
The last time, the two teams clashed in Coca-Cola Cup at Sharjah in March this year and almost broke even. While South Africa defeated Pakistan in one of the two pool matches, Pakistan clinched the trophy by defeating them in the finals.
Both the teams being very accomplished their humiliation at the hands of the hosts Sri Lanka was beyond apprehensions. While South Africa was short of match practice Pakistan could not put forward such an excuse. In the absence of its trump card Wasim Akram the other Pakistan bowlers lacked penetration. Waqar Younis and Abdur Razzaq were the only pair to carry the burden. Waqar Younis, now the spearhead of Pakistan's bowling suffered from cramps in the match against Sri Lanka. His fitness will count a lot for Pakistan in today's encounter. The batsmen also need to apply themselves and not throw away wickets as they did against Sri Lanka.
South Africa one of the top teams in the world surprisingly turned a certain victory into an embarrassing defeat in their first match against Sri Lanka. Needing 250 to win, they got a fantastic start of 150 runs and then collapsed all of a sudden for a mere 62 runs. Apart from the batting collapse, their awfully wayward bowling that conceded 36 runs cost South Africa the match. While facing Pakistan, they will have to safe guard against such a causal display of both batting and bowling.
Both the teams appear evenly poised except that Pakistan has the advantage of playing on the Sri Lanka soil for the last two months. The encounter is expected to be a tough one, which the team performing better shall win.
Date-stamped : 08 Jul2000 - 18:22