Pakistan beat South Africa to Draw T20I series

Pakistan's Umar Akmal's 64 (left) runs and three wickets in succession by Afridi (right) led to Pakistan's victory at Cape Town [Photos AP]

We have condemned Pakistani batsman more than enough. But at Cap Town Friday night, Pakistan batsmen recoiled and gave a good target of 176/4 for the hosts South Africans to chase.

And their spinners, specially Afridi and Ajmal made sure they restrict the hosts and win the match by six runs.

Batting first, Pakistan's 102-run stand between Mohammad Hafeez and Umar Akmal's 64 allowed Pakistan to put on their most competitive batting display in limited-overs matches against South Africa in the last month and break a six-match winless streak. 

Hafeez seemed to be in control of his squad and was seen very active on the field. As someone commented, "Hafeez is much better captain than Misbah because he comes up with fresh ideas about game plan. He gives chance to every player in squad, tries different bowling combinations, is very energetic in field and his field placements are better. Having said that there were some flaws too. He should give new ball to Junaid Khan. He should never send Afridi up the order."

Coming to bat, the South Africans had a flying start till their batsmen were was halted by Pakistan's spinners, led by Shahid Afridi who took the first three wickets. Bilawal Bhatti, in just his second match, showed the variations needed to stem the run flow of runs so that even a 34-run blitz in two overs by David Miller and JP Duminy at the end was not enough, with Sohail Tanvir bowling low full tosses at the death.

Towards the end, it was Sohail Tanvir who took the pace off while keeping his length full to ensure Pakistan squared the series and moved up to No.4 on the rankings. South Africa have dropped from second to third.

The two teams now meet at Cape Town Sunday24 November  for the first of the 3-ODI series match.

References: Cricinfo

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