Observer Report Dubai
Pakistan’s Shaheens clashed against South Africa in a warm-up match Wednesday of the T20 World Cup, in which the Proteas thrashed the men in green by six wickets.
South Africa’s Rassie van der Dussen scored a heroic century to guide his country out of the woods. The match went down to the last ball.
However, after Dussen’s quickfire half-century, South Africa never looked unsettled and it seemed as if their victory was almost certain when Hassan Ali’s last over began.
The Pakistani bowlers were able to dismiss Proteas’ openers quickly, but later, they failed to restrict the South African team as Rassie van der Dussen took charge and smashed 101 runs.
Temba Bavuma also played a good knock as he hit 46 off 42 balls. All-rounder Hassan Ali, who was sent to bowl the last over, failed to restrict boundaries, as he conceded 22 runs, which helped pave way for Proteas’ victory.
Right-arm pacer Haris Rauf gave away 33 runs from his three overs and failed to pick up a wicket, while Shaheen Afridi managed to take two scalps as well but gave away 30 runs from his four overs.
Afridi took the wickets of Bavuma and Heinrich Klaasen (14). Left-arm bowler Imad Wasim gave away 19 runs from his three overs. He also managed to take two early scalps of Quinton de Kock (6) and Reeza Hendricks (7) in the same over.
By the end of the first innings, Pakistan handed a 187-run target to South Africa. Skipper Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan had failed to impress with the bat as they scored 15 and 19. Fakhar Zaman had played an impressive inning with the bat as he scored 52 off 28 balls, while Asif Ali also added 32 runs to the total.
Pakistan had thrashed West Indies earlier this week with a seven-wicket victory in a warm-up match. The Men In Green will face India on October 24.
