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Pak lose series
after hara-kiri from batsmen |
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Scorecard
 Pakistan's
unbelievable hara-kiri from a position of
strength has handed over a series win for an
always active and alert South Africa. The
homeside was cruising along at one stage at 149
for 2 with plenty of overs and batting left in a
chase of 234. The South Africans were never
giving it up and held all the half chances that
came their way as Pakistan hit the panic button
quite needlessly. Pak lost its last five wickets
fell for just 20 runs in the space of 36 balls
to throw away the match and also the series. The
Proteas clinched the decider at the Gaddafi
Stadium by 14 runs to win the series 3-2.
The Man of the Match
could have been Shoaib Akhtar, who made a strong
comeback taking four wickets. But his ambitious
lofted shot off the first ball he had faced with
14 runs to win with one wicket in hand was
enough to spoil his efforts with the ball. The
Man of the Match was instead Makhaya Ntini, who
also finished with four wickets. The Man of the
Series was the only consolation for Pakistan
with Mohammad Yousuf getting it.
Pakistan's bowling
attack looked depleted without Umar Gul and
Mohammad Asif in this match. Shoaib Akhtar with
his impressive comeback made sure that the
Pakistan's new look attack wasn't exposed.
Akhtar got a wicket off the third ball of the
match getting Graeme Smith to play on, he almost
had his second wicket but for a dropped catch
from Kamran Akmal that gave a life to Kallis.
Pakistan were made to pay for that with Kallis
anchoring the innings by making 86 from 130 with
4 fours and a six. Gibbs laid the foundation
with Kallis making 54 from 61 with 10 fours.
Later on, Kallis found an able partner in
Jean-Paul Duminy (44 from 64 with 3 fours and a
six) to carry the innings forward which was
jolted down by Shoaib Akhtar. The other two
pacers Iftikhar Anjum and Sohail Tanvir
complemented him well to restrict SA to 233 for
9. This was after SA had decided to bat first
having won the toss.
Makhaya Ntini came out
with a couple of wickets with the new ball but
his efforts looked to have gone in vain because
of a smooth partnership from Younis Khan and
Mohammad Yousuf. Both batsmen put on 106 for the
third wicket before Younis Khan (58 from 65 with
7 fours) was caught at the boundary trying to
pull Pollock out of the ground. Yousuf (53 from
88 wuth 5 fours) joined his partner back in the
hut after getting caught behind playing a cute
shot. The match was well under the control of
Pakistan with just another 74 to win with six
wickets in hand. However, due to some atrocious
shot selections which was taken advantage of a
brilliant fielding performance from the visitors
shut the door of victory for Pak. Albie Morkel
was instrumental in SA's shock victory by taking
four out of the last six wickets to fall. The
turning point of the match that most people
would agree is the unbelievable catch taken by
AB de Villiers who had to run backwards and
throw himself dangerously to take a miscued hit
from Shahid Afridi safely. AB de Villiers as
such had a bad bruise on his arm but that didn't
stop him in giving his everything for the catch
that won the match.
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