PAK vs SA T20 World Cup: Pakistan keep their semi-final hopes alive with 33-run win vs South Africa
Pakistan beat South Africa by 33 runs (DLS Method) at the Sydney Cricket Ground and kept alive their hopes of advancing to the semi-final.
Pakistan defeated South Africa by 33 runs (DLS Method) in the Super 12 match at the Sydney Cricket Ground, keeping their hopes of reaching the T20 World Cup 2022 semi-final alive.
The Men in Green have also risen to third place in the points table, with South Africa remaining second behind table-toppers India.
Pakistan were in trouble after Mohammad Rizwan departed in single digits after deciding to bat first in the must-win game. Babar Azam's bad form continued after Lungi Ngidi took his wicket.
Mohammad Haris, who replaced Fakhar Zaman, came out blazing, scoring 28 runs off 11 balls with two fours and three sixes. Shan Masood, too, failed to make an impression. Mohammad Nawaz scored 28 off 22, but Pakistan was reduced to 95 for five in 13 overs after he was dismissed.
Iftikhar Ahmed and Shadab Khan took over from there. Iftikhar scored 51 runs on 35 balls, but Shadab stole the show. Shadab scored a fifty off 20 balls, the second-fastest fifty by a Pakistani batter in T20 World Cups after Shoaib Malik.
The SA run-chase didn't get off to a good start when Shaheen Shah Afridi sent back Quinton de Kock and Rilee Rossouw in short succession. However, a 49-run stand between Temba Bavuma and Aiden Markram brought the proceedings back to normal.
Shadab had different plans for Bavuma, who had scored 36 runs from 19 balls. In the ninth over, the leg-spinner first dismissed Bavuma before dismissing Markram. Rain delayed play at the end of the 19th over, leaving the Proteas 16 runs behind the DLS par score.
South Africa were handed a revised target of 142 off 14 overs once play resumed, meaning they needed to score 73 runs in their final five overs to win the match.
Tristan Stubbs and Heinrich Klaasen tossed their bats around, but the required run rate continued to rise. South Africa lost wickets at regular intervals in an attempt to go for huge hits, falling far short of the target. In 14 overs, they scored 108 for nine.