Pakistan knock South Africa out of ICC World T20 by CricketArchive Staff Reporter

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Ground:	Beausejour Stadium, Gros Islet
Scorecard:	Pakistan v South Africa
Player:	AB de Villiers, Shahid Afridi, Umar Akmal
Event:	ICC World Twenty20 2010

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DateLine: 10th May 2010

 

Pakistan delivered a cruel punch in the guts of South Africa as they eliminated the Proteas out of ICC World T20 2010. South Africa once again fell short in an ICC tournament as they could not scale those crucial moments in a major tournament. Pakistan in their 20 overs scored 148 for the loss of 7 wickets. South Africa in reply scored 137 for the loss of seven wickets in their 20 overs.

 

Shahid Afridi won the toss and elected to field first as the defending World T20 champions were chasing a slim chance to make it to the semis. The South African bowling unit bowled accurately to a plan as they kept the Pakistani batsmen quiet. Last man hero Salman Butt (2, 4b) miscued his pull shot and that contributed his dismissal. Khalid Latif (7, 9b, 1x4), playing his first match of the tournament, did not set the stage on fire as he was dismissed soon. Mohammad Hafeez's (1, 5b) nightmare tournament continued as he trapped leg before by a canny Langeveldt as the Pakistani side slipped.

 

Umar Akmal joined his elder brother at the crease and the scoreboard began to tick. The Akmal brother took their time to take stock of the situation and then pressed the accelerator. Umar began the avalanche of boundaries as he lifted van der Merve over square leg for a massive six. Inspired by his younger brother's pyrotechnics Kamran Akmal deposited van der Merve over covers and then over long off in consecutive deliveries as the South African side began to show some worried faces. But Kamran Akmal (37, 33b, 2x6, 3x4) failed to capitalise on his start as he was brilliantly caught at backward point by Gibbs.

 

Shahid Afridi walked out into the middle and he was on look-out for quick runs from ball number one. The got the boundaries at almost every over as the match slowly slipped away from the grasp of the South African side. Umar Akmal (51, 3b, 4x6, 2x4) and Shahid Afridi (30, 18b, 1x6, 1x4) added 61 in 5.3 overs before the two fell in one over. Some intelligent bwoling from the South Africans towards the end of the innings restricted Pakistan to 147.

 

The South African chase began on a wrong note as the Pakistani bowlers were fired up for the occasion. The defending champions realised that this is their last chance to make any sort of impact and also with a chance of back door entry to the semi-final possible the bowlers were on target from back number one. Gibbs (3, 9b) was brilliantly caught at midwicket by Misbah ul Haq while Smith (13, 13b, 1x4) continued to have a horror run in the tournament as he was dismissed cheaply.

 

The South African batsmen were choked by the Pakistani spinners in between the sixth and the fourteenth over as no boundary was scored. Jacques Kallis (22, 21b, 2x4) and Duminy (3, 5b) got out in between as the Proteas struggled. The South African hopes rested on the shoulders of AB de Villiers and it seemed that the talented right-hander would take the team across the line.

 

AB de Villiers broke the barren of boundaries as he took toll on the left-arm spinner Abdur Rehman and it seemed that some life was injected into the innings. But it was not enough as de Villiers (53, 41b, 2x6, 1x4) was caught behind as Pakistan edged in front. Boucher (12, 14b, 1x4) while trying to take the Proteas home and in the end the South Africans once again fell short in a major ICC tournament.