Pakistan vs. South Africa, T20 Series 2013: Scorecard and Recap from Dubai
South Africa beat Pakistan by six runs at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium to claim both the match and settle the two nations' T20 series 2-0 in their favour.
It was another Pakistani batting collapse that ultimately delivered victory to Faf du Plessis' men who triggered the meltdown in the 14th over.
Up until that point, their opponents had looked fairly comfortable as they chased 151, yet soon they were rattled with seven wickets taken over just 43 runs.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
The South Africa captain was satisfied with series win, telling ESPN CricInfo:
"We played really well under pressure and Pakistan were in a position to win but we pulled it back remarkably. We said we wanted to come here and win 2-0 and we did that.
As a bowling unit we have certainly grown a lot over the last couple of months. Credit to them for the time and effort they have put into it. There is always room for improvement.
"
Improvement within their batting line-up is arguably what set the Proteas on the course to victory.
Openers Quinton de Kock, Hashim Amla and du Plesis all came up big during South Africa's innings, bringing home 30, 48 and 58 runs respectively.
Pakistan's bowlers did react and were able to slow but not stop their opponents.
By contrast, Pakistan were very disappointing with the bat, although they can rightly feel aggrieved over the first-ball dismissal of their captain, Mohammed Hafeez, for lbw.
The lack of Hawkeye or other video-review technologies meant that justice was not done, adding a fleck of controversy to the tie.
It was hardly an excuse worthy of absolving Pakistan's other batters however, although Sohaib Maqsood can be proud of his admirable attempts to offer a one-man show of defiance as he attempted to haul the Men in Green to glory.
He made 37 runs from 26 balls as Pakistan's main hope following the breaking of their opening pair Nasir Jamshed and Ahmed Shehzad who were both caught out after 20 and 14 balls, respectively.
Jamshed was able to record 19 runs, while Shehzad added 21.
With Hafeez third batsman, Shehzard, the captain and Jamshed all fell within the space of nine balls, pointing at the implosion that was to come.
More difficulties followed as Shoaib Malik was forced to leave the field due to a bloodied finger, forcing Umar Akmal to take to the crease, yet he didn't last long and precipitated Pakistan's demise.
"Once again batting let us down,we shud get rid of some old horses & build a young team at least for T20.Avg age of this team is almost 28 yr
— Mirza Iqbal Baig (@mirzaiqbal80) November 15, 2013"
As Maqsood tried to hold on, Malik was caught out after 12 balls with Abdul Razzaq taken with just one delivery by South Africa's Imran Tahir. He was bowled after leaving a googly and Maqsood soon followed.
Shahid Afridi and Sohail Tanvir were the two last men standing who could save the day for Pakistan but a spectacular catch by de Plesis caught out the former after Tanvir was bowled out by Dale Steyn.
Hafeez and his men must now prepare themselves for a couple of T20 fixtures against Proteas in South Africa, although on this showing they may have to approach those matches with trepidation rather than thoughts of revenge.
| Batsman | R | B | 4s | 6s | ||
| Quinton de Kock (W) | c sub | b Saeed Ajmal | 30 | 19 | 6 | 0 |
| Hashim Amla | c Shoaib Malik | b Saeed Ajmal | 48 | 41 | 3 | 2 |
| Faf du Plessis (C) | not out | 58 | 48 | 1 | 3 | |
| AB de Villiers | c Nasir Jamshed | b Sohail Tanvir | 5 | 6 | 1 | 0 |
| David Miller | lbw | b Saeed Ajmal | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Henry Davids | b Sohail Tanvir | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Ryan McLaren | ||||||
| Wayne Parnell | ||||||
| Dale Steyn | ||||||
| Lonwabo Tsotsobe | ||||||
| Imran Tahir | ||||||
| Extras | 5 | |||||
| Total | for 5 | 150 |
| Overs | Maidens | Runs | Wickets | |
| Mohammad Irfan | 1.4 | 0 | 12 | 0 |
| Abdul Razzaq | 1 | 0 | 14 | 0 |
| Shoaib Malik | 1.2 | 0 | 12 | 0 |
| Sohail Tanvir | 4 | 0 | 21 | 2 |
| Saeed Ajmal | 4 | 0 | 25 | 3 |
| Mohammad Hafeez | 4 | 0 | 21 | 0 |
| Shahid Afridi | 4 | 0 | 43 | 0 |
| Fall of Wicket | |
| 37 | Quinton de Kock |
| 115 | Hashim Amla |
| 137 | AB de Villiers |
| 147 | David Miller |
| 150 | Henry Davids |
| Batsman | R | B | 4s | 6s | ||
| Nasir Jamshed | c Hashim Amla | b Henry Davids | 19 | 20 | 3 | 0 |
| Ahmed Shehzad | c Ryan McLaren | b Wayne Parnell | 21 | 14 | 3 | 0 |
| Mohammad Hafeez (C) | lbw | b Wayne Parnell | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Shoaib Malik | b Imran Tahir | 15 | 18 | 1 | 0 | |
| Sohaib Maqsood | c Quinton de Kock | b Wayne Parnell | 37 | 26 | 2 | 1 |
| Umar Akmal (W) | c Imran Tahir | b Ryan McLaren | 11 | 12 | 1 | 0 |
| Abdul Razzaq | b Imran Tahir | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Shahid Afridi | c Faf du Plessis | b Dale Steyn | 14 | 10 | 0 | 1 |
| Sohail Tanvir | b Dale Steyn | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | |
| Saeed Ajmal | not out | 7 | 10 | 0 | 0 | |
| Mohammad Irfan | not out | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | |
| Extras | 12 | |||||
| Total | For 9 | 144 |
| Overs | Maiden | Runs | Wickets | |
| Dale Steyn | 4 | 1 | 20 | 2 |
| Lonwabo Tsotsobe | 3 | 0 | 30 | 0 |
| Ryan McLaren | 4 | 0 | 38 | 1 |
| Wayne Parnell | 4 | 0 | 25 | 3 |
| Henry Davids | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1 |
| Imran Tahir | 4 | 0 | 21 | 2 |
| Fall of Wicket | |
| 39 | Ahmed Shehzad |
| 39 | Mohammad Hafeez |
| 46 | Nasir Jamshed |
| 101 | Umar Akmal |
| 112 | Shoaib Malik |
| 112 | Abdul Razzaq |
| 112 | Sohaib Maqsood |
| 121 | Sohail Tanvir |
| 139 | Shahid Afridi |
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
