Another chase, another collapse, the story continued in Sharjah as South Africa thrashed Pakistan to seal a dominant series win.

by Pakpassion Staff (11th November 2013)

Toss: South Africa won the toss and chose to bat

Teams:

Pakistan: 1 Nasir Jamshed, 2 Mohammad Hafeez, 3 Umar Amin, 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 Robin Peterson, 9 Vernon Philander, 10 Lonwabo Tsotsobe, 11 Wayne Parnell 
 

With the series in the bag for South Africa, one would have forgiven the Proteas for displaying lesser levels of enthusiasm - atleast if that is what Pakistan were expecting, then they were in for a big surprise.

In a way, Misbah losing the toss this morning was symptomatic of Pakistan's declining fortunes but a ray of hope seemed to filter through as Irfan quickly got rid of Amla but then de Kock (centurion from 4th ODI) and du Plessis combined in a 50 run partnership to provide a sound platform for South Africa to build upon. However, the bulk of Pakistan's problems came from their old foe - Captain AB de Villiers who got together with du Plessis, Miller, McLaren and Peterson to take South Africa to a more than respectable 268/7

AB de Villiers' inning of 115 off 102 balls was an example of controlled aggression - 10 fours and 3 sixes badly denting whatever hopes that Misbah and his men had of regaining some honour in this series. The Pakistani bowlers struggled to contain the onslaught towards the end of the innings with Sohail Tanvir and Junaid Khan bearing the brunt of the damage. From a manageable 150-5 in the 38th over to 268/7 in the 50th, Pakistan seemed to surrender whatever slender advantage they had in the first place. From then on, it was always going to be an uphill battle.

Fall Of Wickets

1-4 (Amla, 0.5 ov), 
2-54 (de Kock, 12.4 ov), 
3-62 (Duminy, 15.4 ov), 
4-124 (du Plessis, 31.4 ov), 
5-150 (Miller, 38.4 ov), 
6-233 (McLaren, 47.6 ov), 
7-240 (Peterson, 48.4 ov)
 

Disaster struck the Pakistani openers for the first time in this ODI series as both Hafeez and Shehzad were back in the pavilion by the time the score got to 8. The assured figured of Sohaib Maqsood had walked in at the No 3 position but Umar Amin and then Misbah-ul-Haq could not stand their ground and departed leaving Pakistan precariously placed on 56/4.

What followed next was a period of hope for the Pakistan team and their fans as Maqsood and Umar Akmal combined in a 54 run 5th wicket partnership taking Pakistan to a hopeful 110 before Akmal, who had been dropped twice before, finally fell to JP Duminy.

Shahid Afridi joined Maqsood next and was undone by a harmless bouncer from Parnell who took the catch off his own bowling. If Pakistan fans were thinking of leaving the ground they did so with great haste as Maqsood was next to depart. An imperious 53 (successive 50 after 4th ODI) to his name, he was Pakistan's last hope and his departure brought in a familiar succession of tail-end batsmen with Sohail Tanvir the last man out as Pakistan capitulated in the 36th over - losing by a massive 117 runs.

Fall Of wickets

1-8 (Ahmed Shehzad, 3.6 ov), 
2-8 (Mohammad Hafeez, 4.5 ov), 
3-17 (Umar Amin, 8.1 ov), 
4-56 (Misbah-ul-Haq, 16.2 ov), 
5-110 (Umar Akmal, 26.4 ov),
6-128 (Shahid Afridi, 29.4 ov),
7-130 (Sohaib Maqsood, 30.2 ov), 
8-131 (Saeed Ajmal, 31.2 ov), 
9-131 (Mohammad Irfan, 33.2 ov), 
10-151 (Sohail Tanvir, 35.3 ov)
 

A dismal series from a Pakistani point of view but was the result that much of a surprise given Pakistan's meagre batting resources? South Africa again displayed their all-round strength in this series and will be looking forward to Pakistan's tour in a few weeks time. For Pakistan and it's team management, a familiar phase of criticism and navel-gazing begins and it will be interesting to see the fallout from this defeat.

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