Pakistan is among the most vital participants in this ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. But Pakistan have made it difficult to qualify for the semifinal as they lost two games against India and Zimbabwe. Today, they faced South Africa in a must-win match at Sidney Cricket Ground, where they defeated the Proteas by 33 runs.
As it happened
Babar Azam, the captain of Pakistan, won the toss and decided to bat first. So, he came into the crease with Mohammad Rizwan to start the innings for Pakistan. However, both players failed to build a good partnership on the opening wicket, like in their previous matches.
Pakistan lost their first wicket in the very first over as Wayne Parnell picked up Mohammad Rizwan in his fourth delivery. After that, Mohammad Haris tried to build a partnership with Babar Azam. Together they added 34 runs on the scoreboard. However, Babar Azam was very slow in scoring runs. Mohammad Haris was carrying the team. But he couldn’t go far. In the 5th over, he lost his wicket to Anrich Nortje after scoring 28 runs.
The disaster started when Haris left the crease. Between the 6th to 7th over, Pakistan lost two more wickets, Babar Azam and Shan Masood. However, Iftikhar Ahmed and Shadab Khan played two crucial innings to rescue Pakistan.
Iftikhar Ahmed scored 51 runs from 35 balls, while Shadab Khan was more aggressive than Iftikhar. Shadab Khan scored the highest 52 runs from 22 balls only. Relying on their bats, Pakistan scored a challenging 185 runs in 20 overs.
Defending the score, Pakistani bowlers had a flying start. They picked up the first wicket in the first over as Shaheen Afridi took Quinton de Kock. The pacer got another crucial wicket in his second over. This time, Rilee Rossouw departed the crease with seven runs.
However, Temba Bavuma then made a partnership of 49 runs with Aiden Markram. But Shadab Khan changed the momentum for Pakistan. He picked up both batters in the 8th over. Then, the rain started, and the umpires stopped the game.
When the rain stopped, South Africa’s new target was 142 in 14 overs by the DLS method. However, the remaining batters couldn’t contribute enough. Therefore, South Africa ended their innings with 108 runs, resulting in Pakistan winning the game by 33 runs.
