CHENNAI – South Africa beat Pakistan by one wicket with 16 balls remaining in the 26th match of the ongoing ICC World Cup 2023 in Chennai on Friday.
In the first innings, Pakistan were bowled out for 270 runs in 46.4 overs as Proteas showed impressive bowling and fielding. Chasing the target, South Africa scored the required number of runs in 47.2 overs at the loss of 9 wickets.
Pakistan lost their openers – Abdullah Shafique (9) and Imamul Haq (12) – very early in the match as Marco Jansen struck twice to bring the team under pressure.
Skipper Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan tried to build a partnership in order to boost the total but Gerald Coetzee dismissed the latter for 31. The Pakistan captain was removed for 50 and Iftikhar Ahmed fell for 21 by Tabraiz Shamsi.
At that time Saud Shakeel (52) and Shadab Khan (43) took the aggressive route and put scores on the board with fiery boundaries. After their removal, Mohammad Nawaz tried to keep up the momentum so a reasonable total could be built against the Protease. However, he pulled poorly on Jensen’s delivery and was caught on the off side.
Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat first against South Africa in ICC World Cup 2023 fixture today at MA Chidambaram Stadium.
Pakistan made two changes to the team. Nawaz and Wasim Jnr came to the side in place of Hasan Ali and Usama Mir.
With three consecutive defeats, Pakistan are eager to roar back into the competition when they play South Africa in their sixth match of the mega event.
The Green Shirts started the World Cup campaign with wins over the Netherlands and Sri Lanka in Hyderabad, but since have faced three successive defeats. In their last match, Afghanistan shocked Pakistan by 8 wickets.
Pakistan look to get their #CWC23 campaign back on track against an in-form South Africa unit
As the Green Shirts prepare for a crucial match against South Africa, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced on Thursday that fast bowler Hasan Ali will not play due to fever.
The board issued a brief statement saying, “Hasan Ali, Pakistan’s fast bowler, is unavailable for Pakistan’s match against South Africa due to illness.”
The PCB stated that although Hasan had a fever last night, he is doing fine and that the pacer will be given time off to properly recover before the remaining games.
Squads:
Pakistan: Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq/Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Usama Mir, Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Haris Rauf
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Temba Bavuma (c), Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Gerald Coetzee, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi
