South Africa sealed the series with one game to go despite a valiant effort from Misbah-Ul-Haq and Sohaib Maqsood to chase down 266.

by Pakpassion Staff (8th November 2013)

Toss: South Africa won the toss and chose to bat

Teams:

Pakistan: 1 Nasir Jamshed, 2 Mohammad Hafeez, 3 Asad Shafiq, 4 Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), 5 Sohaib Maqsood, 6 Umar Akmal (wk), 7 Shahid Afridi, 8 Sohail Tanvir, 9 Junaid Khan, 10 Saeed Ajmal, 11 Mohammad Irfan

South Africa:1 Hashim Amla, 2 Quinton de Kock, 3 JP Duminy, 4 AB de Villiers (capt & wk), 5 Faf du Plessis, 6 David Miller, 7 Ryan McLaren, 8 Dale Steyn, 9 Morne Morkel, 10 Lonwabo Tsotsobe, 11 Imran Tahir 
 

With a 2-1 lead hanging over Misbah-ul-Haq's men like the Sword of Democles, it was obvious that Pakistan had to find it in themselves to raise their game today. Losing the toss in batting friendly conditions was not the ideal way forward but was almost expected given Misbah's dismal record with the coin. Pakistan brought in Junaid Khan and Sohaib Maqsood to see if they could change their fortunes but clearly South Africa had other plans. 

Amla and de Kock provided a solid base to South Africa in this important game as they put up 87 runs before Amla was bowled by Mohammad Hafeez - the first of the 2 wickets for the Pakistan spinner in a 9 over stint that saw him give up just 34 runs in 9 overs.

Faf du Plessis came in next but did not last too long as Irfan picked him up for 10 but then a solid partnership between de Kock and de Villiers took South Africa to 198 before Junaid Khan got the breakthrough.

All this while, it was the 20 year old wicket-keeper, de Kock who was providing the impetus to the Proteas - he was next out after an excellent 112 off just 135 balls. Miller was to follow but it was de Kock's innings, consisting of 9 superbly struck 4s and one 6, which provided the backbone for a middle-order run splurge by Duminy and McLaren and took South Africa to 266. The total appeared to be a position of safety and set a challenging target for Pakistan's struggling batting line-up.

Fall Of Wickets

1-87 (Amla, 18.1 ov), 
2-129 (du Plessis, 26.5 ov), 
3-198 (de Villiers, 40.2 ov), 
4-210 (de Kock, 42.3 ov), 
5-214 (Miller, 43.4 ov)
 

Both Ahmed Shehzad and Mohammad Hafeez started the innings in a much familiar but solid manner as they put up an unbeaten 74 run partnership - Pakistan then lost the advantage as Shehzad was run out trying to take a non-existent single and was unable to keep his bat on the ground as he dived to save himself. The introduction of Imran Tahir always causes some excitement amongst Pakistani batsmen and Hafeez did not disappoint as he was clean bowled by the excitable leg-spinner for 33. 

Whilst Tahir was toying with Pakistani emotions, Sohaib Maqsood walked in to play his ODI debut innings. From afar, a replica of the more illustrious Pakistani legend - Inzamam-ul Haq, the 26 year old Maqsood made his presence felt on the field with some brilliant strokeplay. Asad Shafiq on the other hand looked out of sorts and duly served a nice catch off Tsotsobe leaving Pakistan on 86/3

Maqsood then showed what one hopes was a glimpse of his bright future for Pakistan as he proceeded to dismantle a bewildered South African bowling attack - he hit 2 memorable sixes before being caught in the deep off Steyn. His contribution a valiant 56. 

By this time, Pakistan were feeling the pressure of the run chase as it approached 8 and Sohail Tanvir came out to play the role of a pinch hitter in the powerplay overs. The experiment did not last too long as he was out trying to play a hook shot off Steyn. Umar Akmal was in next to join his captain who was setting himself nicely for the final assault but was it a bit too much too late? 

Misbah duly reached his 50 off 57 balls and was now looking in good nick - with Umar Akmal at the crease and Afridi to follow in the last 10 overs, the game was set for an exciting finish. Pakistan's reached 226 in the 45th over and the pressure was steadily mounting on them as they needed 41 off 30 balls. AB de Villiers then brought in Steyn for his final spell and he did not disappoint his captain - removing Umar Akmal, Misbah and Ajmal in quick succession. Afridi then proceeded to run himself out and as crowds left the stadium and at the fall of Junaid's wicket, Pakistan gave away the hard-work of Maqsood and Misbah, losing by 28 runs.



Fall Of wickets

1-74 (Ahmed Shehzad, 18.5 ov), 
2-85 (Mohammad Hafeez, 20.5 ov), 
3-86 (Asad Shafiq, 21.1 ov),
4-174 (Sohaib Maqsood, 36.4 ov), 
5-180 (Sohail Tanvir, 38.4 ov),
6-228 (Umar Akmal, 46.1 ov), 
7-230 (Misbah-ul-Haq, 46.4 ov), 
8-231 (Saeed Ajmal, 46.6 ov),
9-232 (Shahid Afridi, 47.4 ov)
 

Pakistani batting owes a lot to the likes of Misbah and Maqsood for taking the game to the stage it did go to but the fact remains that this is a poor batting line up. The series now won by South Africa, it's up to Pakistan to try and give their fans something to smile about as they go to Sharjah for the final game.

The final ODI is on Monday in Sharjah.

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