Umar Amin starred with the bat as his 58 off 42 balls set up Pakistan’s innings. Put into bat first, Pakistan rode on Umar Amin and others down the order to post a competitive 198/5 at Grace Road Leicester against unbeaten but AB de Villiers-less South Africa as AB took a break from this game.
That showed in the run chase as nobody really got going as South Africa crawled their way to 167/9 in 20 overs losing the game by 31 runs as Sohail Tanvir and captain Mohammad Hafeez starred with the ball and got the job done as Pakistan registered their 2nd win in 3 games. South Africa tried from down the order but it was a bridge too far in the end.
Umar Amin’s half-century propels Pakistan to 198
Sharjeel Khan and Kamran Akmal came out to bat for Pakistan after they were sent into bat by Aaron Phangiso the stand-in captain of South Africa. Sharjeel made his intentions clear by smashing a couple of boundaries in the first over itself. Wayne Parnell was welcomed into the attack with a maximum from Sharjeel while Kamran hit him for a boundary as well. Sharjeel looked dangerous and hit Hardus Viljoen for another boundary, but Viljoen had his revenge dismissing Sharjeel for 19 off 11 balls with 3 fours and a six to his name.
Viljoen bowled a fuller length ball on off-stump, Sharjeel went for a whip but could not use his wrists properly this time. The ball went high up in the air as Sarel Erwee moved to his left from midwicket and took a good catch. Umar Amin came out to bat next at 3 and got off the mark straight away. Kamran hit consecutive boundaries of Viljoen to end the over. Duanne Olivier was welcomed with a boundary from Kamran Akmal while the bowler gave away 4 byes in the over as well.
Umar Amin got his first boundary off Wayne Parnell as the 50 came up for Pakistan in 4.4 overs. Olivier got his first wicket as he dismissed Kamran Akmal for 17 off 11 balls with 4 boundaries to his name. Olivier bowled a good length delivery at the middle and leg stump, Akmal went for the flick but was early into the shot. He managed to get a leading edge where Viljoen took a simple catch at short fine leg. Captain Mohammad Hafeez came out to bat at 4 and at the end of the powerplay, Pakistan Champions were 55/2 in 6 overs.
Chris Morris came into the attack post the powerplay and he was greeted by a boundary by both Umar Amin and Mohammad Hafeez as 13 came off the over. Captain for the day Aaron Phangiso came into the attack. Amin hit him away for a boundary as well. JP Duminy came into the attack and the move paid dividends as he got rid of Mohammad Hafeez for 8 off 7 balls with a boundary to his name.
Duminy bowled fuller delivery from around the wicket angling away from the batter outside off, Hafeez went for a slog sweep despite being away from him. Hafeez got a huge leading edge and Parnell moved to his right from fine leg and took the catch. Shoaib Malik came out to bat next for Pakistan. Phangiso bowled a tight over and at the end of 10 overs, Pakistan Champions were 83/3 looking good to get to a competitive total.
Some tight overs followed from JP Duminy and JJ Smuts before Malik broke the shackles by hitting a cracking boundary and bringing up the 100 for Pakistan Champions in 12.5 overs. Then the duo started to target JJ Smuts as first Malik hit him for consecutive boundaries before Amin hit him for consecutive sixes and a triple to end the 14th over as 24 runs came off the over. Amin then took on Hardus Viljoen by hitting him for a boundary and then hit a six to get to his fifty off 37 balls. At the end of 15 overs, Pakistan Champions were 140/3.
Shoaib Malik then got a boundary away off Wayne Parnell. Duanne Olivier came back into the attack and got rid of Umar Amin for 58 off 42 balls laced with 4 fours and 3 sixes to his name. Olivier bowled a length ball slower and on off-stump, Amin got beaten looking for the pull shot. The ball stayed low and uprooted the stumps. Asif Ali came to the crease next and got off the mark while Malik got another boundary away off Olivier.
Chris Morris was taken to the cleaners as Asif Ali hit him for a six followed by a boundary and another maximum and he ended the over with another boundary to end the 18th over. 23 runs came off the over. Hardus Viljoen pulled things back by bowling a tight 19th over. Wayne Parnell, tasked to bowl the final over got rid of Asif Ali for 23 off 11 balls laced with 2 fours and 2 sixes to his name.
Parnell bowled it full and outside off-stump, Asif waited for it and took a giant swing at it. The timing wasn’t there as the ball went straight up in the air. Hashim Amla at long-on made no mistake and took the catch. Aamer Yamin came to the crease and showed intent as he hit consecutive boundaries off Wayne Parnell before getting a brace and a single off the final ball of the innings. Pakistan ended with 198/5 in 20 overs with 11 coming off the final over. 16 extras given by South Africa Champions.
Duanne Olivier was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 2/19 in 3 overs. JP Duminy bowled well for his 1/18 in 3 overs. Wayne Parnell finished with 1/38 in 4 overs. Hardus Viljoen finished with 1/42 in 4 overs. Phangiso only bowled 2 overs for 13 runs. The others went the journey. It meant South Africa Champions needed 199 runs in 20 overs to keep their unbeaten run alive.
Mohammad Hafeez, Sohail Tanvir helps Pakistan beat South Africa.Â
Hashim Amla and JJ Smuts walked out to open the batting for South Africa in this big chase. Amla got off the mark by hitting Rumman Raees for a boundary while Smuts made his intentions clear by hitting consecutive boundaries off the same bowler to end the first over. Imad Wasim bowled a tight over before Raees got the early breakthrough of Smuts for 10 off 7 balls with 2 boundaries to his name.
Raees bowled a short ball on the body, Smuts was looking to pull it over square leg but didn’t get enough distance on it. Raees dragged his length a little and the ball ended up straight into the hands of Umar Amin at long leg. Henry Davids came out to bat next at 3. Raees bowled a beamer but the free hit yielded no runs. Wasim bowled another tight over as Davids survived a run out appeal. Sohail Tanvir came into the attack and got rid of Davids for 6 off 9 balls.
Tanvir bowled a full delivery on off-stump, Davids looked to tonk the ball downtown. He didn’t get enough of it and the ball went to mid-off where Shoaib Malik took the catch by tracking back. Sarel Erwee came out to bat next. Sohail Khan was greeted by Erwee for two boundaries in 3 balls. South Africa Champions at the end of the powerplay were 41/2 in 6 overs.
Captain Mohammad Hafeez came into the attack and should have had a wicket but Kamran Akmal missed the stumping as Amla got a lifeline. But Sohail Khan got rid of Amla soon and the error from Akmal wasn’t costly as Amla fell for 12 off 18 balls with a boundary to his name. Length delivery on the pads, Amla charged down the wicket and mistimed one towards midwicket where Hafeez made no mistake. JP Duminy walked out to bat next.
Hafeez got his first wicket as he dismissed Sarel Erwee for 12 off 16 balls which included two boundaries in it. Fuller length and on the pads, Erwee shuffled across the wicket to sweep the ball towards fine leg but got beaten. The ball hits flush on the pads and the umpire raised his finger in a flash. Jacques Rudolph came into bat as an Impact Substitute player.
Shoaib Malik came into the attack and bowled a miserly first over as South Africa at the halfway stage in the chase were 52/4 in 10 overs. Impact Player Rudolph hit a crisp boundary off Hafeez but the Professor got his revenge few balls later. Hafeez bowled a slower delivery back of a length at the leg stump, Rudolph came down the track to go over the off-side. The ball stayed a tad low and crashed onto the leg stump as he departed for 10 off 11 balls with a boundary to his name. Keeper batter Morne van Wyk came out to bat next.
Morne got off the mark soon while Duminy got a boundary away off Malik. Morne got his first boundary by pulling Hafeez towards deep midwicket. Malik came back and dismissed Duminy as the pressure of the asking rate was telling on South Africa. Fuller than length at leg stump, Duminy got down on one knee and went for the shot. He got it off the cue end of his bat and Yamin took a simple catch at deep midwicket as Duminy departed for 11 off 13 balls with a boundary to his name.
Aaron Phangiso came out to bat and hit a gigantic maximum to get himself going. Phangiso did not stop here as he hit Imad Wasim for another maximum before Wasim hit back dismissing Phangiso for 13 off 8 balls with 2 sixes to his name. Wasim bowled the length ball wide of off-stump, Phangiso reached out for it and swung his bat to mistime it. The ball flew towards long-off where Umar Amin ran distance forward dived in forward to pull off a stunner. Wayne Parnell came out to bat at 9 with the Proteas tottering at 93/7 in 15 overs.
Morne hit Wahab for a boundary and soon South Africa crawled past 100 in 15.4 overs. Parnell hit Wahab Riaz for another boundary and took a couple of runs as 13 runs came in the over. Morne was still keeping the fight going as he hit Sohail Khan for another maximum. Parnell then hit a huge maximum and followed it up with a boundary off Wahab Riaz. But Wahab had his revenge dismissing Parnell for 21 off 9 balls laced with 2 fours and a six.
Wahab bowled a slower delivery at the leg and middle stump, Parnell looked to drive it but the ball shaped away a touch and the ball clipped the top of middle stump as the 8th wicket went down for South Africa. Chris Morris came out to bat next and got off the mark while Morne hit two consecutive boundaries off Wahab Riaz to end the 18th over.
Chris Morris decided to join in the fun as he hit Sohail Khan for a boundary before going off strike. Morne van Wyk then hit a boundary and a six in the same over as that over yielded 19 runs but the game was as good as over as South Africa needed 47 off the final over. Chris Morris hit Sohail Tanvir for a streaky boundary before Tanvir hit back and got rid of Morris for 10 off 7 balls with 2 boundaries to his name.
Tanvir bowled a good length delivery on the pads, Morris moved leg side and swung his bat ay it and the only thing he managed was get a huge top edge. The ball went up in the air and Akmal called for it and took the catch with gloves on. Hardus Viljoen was the last man to come out to bat. He hit a maximum to get off the mark and then took a single off the final ball of the match to end the contest. South Africa Champions ended with 167/9 in 20 overs with Morne van Wyk remaining unbeaten on 44 off 20 balls with 5 fours and 2 sixes while Hardus Viljoen was unbeaten on 7 off 3 balls with a six to his name. 11 extras given by Pakistan bowlers.
Mohammad Hafeez was the pick of the bowlers for Pakistan Champions with figures of 2/21 in 4 overs. Sohail Tanvir supported him well with 2/13 in 2 overs. Rumman Raees got a wicket in his 1/17 in 2 overs. Imad Wasim finished with 1/19 in 3 overs. Sohail Khan finished with 1/42 in 4 overs. Shoaib Malik finished with 1/18 in 3 overs while Wahab Riaz picked up a wicket in his 1/31 in 2 overs. So, Pakistan Champions win by 31 runs and for his swashbuckling half-century, Umar Amin was awarded the Player of the Match Award.
What Lies Ahead.Â
With this win, Pakistan Champions jump up to 2nd in the points table with 5 points from 3 games and they remain unbeaten in this tournament. Despite the defeat, South Africa Champions are still on top of the points table with 6 points from 4 games. The bandwagon next moves to Leeds, Headingly where a double-header will take place on Super Saturday. First up it’s going to be India Champions vs Australia Champions from 5PM IST and which will be followed by Pakistan Champions taking on West Indies Champions from 9PM IST.
Will India get their first win on this campaign as defending champions? Only time will tell. The tournament is heading towards its business end and all matches will be important for teams as the legends look to shine on the world stage.
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