Shahid Afridi's superb 88 off 48 balls failed to win 3rd ODI for Pakistan

Unlike previous limited over matches, where Pakistani bowlers usually outsmart the batsmen and take wickets in succession, the 3rd ODI at Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg Sunday today was a different ballgame altogether.

Record third wicket partnership of 238 between Amla (122) and Villiers (128) set a huge target for Pakistan 

Today, Pakistan's bowlers seemed helpless against the South African stalwarts and failed to dislodge Hashim Amla and Villiers who scored centuries before going back to the pavilion. The duo's superb centuries and Plessis 45 scored an unbeatable 343 in 50 overs. Pakistan's Wahaab Riaz proved too costly for Pakistan for his 2/93, followed by Saeed Ajmal's 1/63.

Coming to bat, opener Nasir Jamshed once again failed to stay on the crease and was sent packing for just 10 runs. Although Hafeez stood to the ground for 57, others kept going back for small additions to the total. However, it was Shahid Afridi who put life into the match by his high hitting 88 off 48 balls. But he alone could not address the damage already done.

Shahid Afridi's high hitting 88 off 48 balls could not win 3rd ODI for Pakistan

Surprisingly Wahaab Riaz, who cost too much as a bowler, added valuable 45 runs. But the effort by Afridi and Wahaab could not win the match for Pakistan and Pakistan lost by 34 runs with 1.5 overs remaining. Tsotsobe bagged 3/74 while McLaren took 3/56.

Hashim Amla and Villiers shared the players of the match awards for their superb match winning centuries. Beside the thrilling match, the hallmark of today's match was the pink dress worn by the South African team to show their solidarity for the cause of fighting against the breast cancer.

South Africa now leads the 5-ODI series by 2-1.

4th ODI will be played between South Africa and  Pakistan at Durban on 21 March 2013.

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South Africa wins first test against Pakistan by 211 runs

The visiting Pakistan team that was crippled for 49 in the first innings, did try to stick to their feet on the crease in their second innings, but Steyn was to hot to be handled by Pakistani batsmen. Steyn who took 6 for 8 in the first innings, collected five more wickets in the second innings for 52. In all he bagged 11 wickets for six in the first match to bring victory to South Africa by 211 runs.

Steyn took 11 wickets for 60 in the first test match against Pakistan at Johannesburg

South African wicket keeper Villiers was equally assertive who took five catches in the second innings in addition to six in the first, totaling 11 catches, just like 11 wickets of Steyn. Villiers equaled the previous world record held by Jack Russel for England against South Africa on the same Wanderers ground in 1995-96.

Pakistan which had a stockpile of spinners, found it hard to dismantle the South African batsmen as the wicket needed fast bowlers like Steyn to dislodge the batsmen. This was also acknowledged by Pakistan captain Misbah, who said that they needed a deal with the South African fast bowlers.

Pakistan plays its second test match against South Africa from 14-18 February at Cape Town.

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Howzat!! South Africa cripples Pakistan for 49 in their first innings

When Pakistan sent back the entire South African team for 'mere'253 runs on the Day-1 of the first test match at Johannesburg's Wanderers stadium, many hailed Pakistan's bowlers superb performance, specially Hafeez who bagged four wickets for just 16 runs including one maiden over.

But they did not know what was coming for Pakistan.

Although Pakistan started their first innings on the first day and were 6 for no loss, the Day-2 was not only costlier, it was the deadliest of all previous days of Pakistan cricket history.

On Day-2, Pakistan had lost three wickets that of Hafeez, Jamshed and Younis for 12. Then it looked Pakistan had stabilized till the score reached 36 when Azhar went back to pavilion. And then there was no ending as the entire team was sent packing back to pavilion for just 49 runs - Pakistan's lowest ever total of an innings.

DW Steyn bagged six wickets for just 8 runs with SIX maiden overs of the total 8.1 overs he bowled.

Pakistan's earlier lowest score was 59 against Australia in 2002-2003 at Sharjah - Australia won by an innings and 198 runs.

Pakistan now assumes a position between Australia's 47 runs (scored in the second innings against South Africa at Newlands 2011-2012) and Zimbabwe's 51 (scored in their first innings against New Zealand in 2011-2012).

It may be added here for information that South Africa ranks second in the lowest score of 30 after 26 of New Zealand.

The match can be viewed live from the links given here.

Reference: Howstat 

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Pakistan in South Africa: First Test Match - Watch Live Free Streaming | 1-5 February - Johannesburg

Pakistan cricket team formally begins their South African tour with effect from 1st February till 5th at Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg. Pakistan is visiting South Africa after 2007-08 when they lost 1-2 to the hosts.

Pakistan will play a three test matches series, two T20Is and five ODIs during their stay in the South Africa. Beside having played with the South African Invitation XI at East London from 25-28 January, Pakistan will come play another match with the South African Invitation XI at Kimberley.

South African have had a real good winning series against New Zealand and had consolidated their no.1 ranking.

Pakistan has not played any test match for the last six months and may find them at an odd when playing their first test at Johannesburg starting Friday tomorrow.

Pakistan's openers Jamshed, Asad Shafiq and Azhar are having their first exposure to the South African grounds and are likely to take time to get adjusted to the new environment.

As for South African captain Smith, the match Friday is going to be his 100th Test as captain (99 for his country and one for the World XI).

The opposing squads for the Test Match at Johannesburg are as under:
Pakistan: (probable) 1 Mohammed Hafeez, 2 Nasir Jamshed, 3 Azhar Ali, 4 Younis Khan, 5 Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), 6 Asad Shafiq, 7 Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), 8 Umar Gul, 9 Saeed Ajmal, 10 Junaid Khan, 11 Mohammed Irfan/Tanvir Ahmed

South Africa: (probable) 1 Graeme Smith (capt), 2 Alviro Petersen, 3 Hashim Amla, 4 Jacques Kallis, 5 AB de Villiers (wk), 6 Faf du Plessis, 7 Dean Elgar, 8 Vernon Philander, 9 Robin Peterson, 10 Dale Steyn, 11 Morne Morkel

The last time South Africa played a Test at the Wanderers in November 2011, they lost to Australia. Let us watch and see how does the hosts fare this time at the Wanderers Stadium.

The Test match is scheduled from 1-5 February, starting daily at 10:30 local time (08:30 GMT) and 13:30 Pakistan Standard Time at the Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg.

If you are one of the fans located at different destination and miss the chance to visit the stadium to watch your favorite team, You can now watch the match live on your laptop or desktop computer, FREE, provided you have an internet connection, from the links given below:

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* Please read our Disclaimer Policy with regard to free live streaming

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