World Cup 2019, Match 30: Pakistan vs South Africa – Who Said What

South Africa’s survival depended on their win in this game against Pakistan tonight. Not that it’d have brought them in contention for a semi-final spot but with this defeat at the hands of Sarfaraz Ahmed & Co. they are officially out of the race. Pakistan were hurt – injured and insulted, they had to come back or go down the spiral to not rise. They put up a professional display against the Proteas to hand them a drubbing.

Sarfaraz once again won the toss and opted to bat first. Imam-ul-Haq and Fakhar Zaman played sensibly against the new ball, not that Kagiso Rabada or Lungi Ngidi really challenged them on a decent looking Lord’s pitch. Their opening partnership worth 81, set Pakistan up for a big total. Despite losing both of them for identical scores of 44 in quick succession, it didn’t derail their effort.

Babar Azam continued to be as consistent as he has been, Mohammad Hafeez also made a contribution but couldn’t convert his 20. One of the changes Pakistan made in this game was to add Harris Sohail to the batting order. He repaid the faith with a tremendous knock. Harris and Babar shared an 81-run partnership before the No.3 fell on 69. The latter contributed 89 and with Imad Wasim’s quick 23, they got over the 300-run mark to end up with 308/7 in 20 overs.

It looked like a par score given the sort of bowling attack the Men in Green possess, the fact that Proteas batting has been out of order enhances their chances. Veteran Hashim Amla who had shown signs of returning to form departed in Mohammad Amir’s first over. Then Quinton de Kock and skipper Faf du Plessis got together for a strong partnership. But once QDK was dismissed Aiden Markram and Faf followed him to the change room.

It was a lost battle with the run rate mounting and one after the other batsmen falling under pressure. In the end, Pakistan won the match by 49 runs as all South Africa could manage was 259/9 in 50 overs.

Man of the Match Harris Sohail said:

It’s tough when you’re sitting out and waiting for your turn. My goal was to make the most of my opportunities. When I went in, I was told I have to build a partnership with Babar, but it wasn’t easy out there. Just backed myself.

Winning captain Sarfaraz Ahmed said:

A complete team performance. I think a couple of team combinations didn’t allow us to play him before. But he did well after getting his chance. Sometimes, change is good. Today, the way Haris batted, he looked hungry. He was the difference. Batted like Jos Buttler. We have to work hard on our fielding. We dropped so many catches. All three matches are important. Complete bowling effort. Credit to Amir for picking up early wickets. Shadab picked up wickets in the middle overs and Wahab got us wickets at the death. Thank you for all the support.

Faf du Plessis after ending on the losing side said:

We are not playing good cricket. We didn’t bowl well. 300 plus on that target was 20-25 more on that track. Not spin. Not spinners in particular. We needed a good start. As we are building partnerships, we have been losing wickets. It has been case of confidence. When you are playing well, the ball just falls in your court. When you are playing against a quality team like Pakistan, they will put you under pressure. Imran has played with a lot of heart and has led our attack. We haven’t been able to do justice to ourselves as a team. For me the biggest disappointment has been we have been letting ourselves down.