T20 World Cup, Pakistan vs South Africa: Pakistan keep hope alive by ending South Africa’s unbeaten run | Cricket News

SYDNEY: Pakistan kept alive their slim hopes of reaching the Twenty20 World Cup semi-finals with a 33-run victory over South Africa in a rain-shortened Super 12 match, the tournament’s only unbeaten record brought to an end in the process.
On the ropes at 43/4 early in their innings, Pakistan rallied behind spectacular half-centuries from Iftikhar Ahmed and Shadab Khan to post 185 for nine and delight the lively crowd of 30,000 roaring them onto the Sydney Cricket Ground.
As It Happened: Pakistan vs South Africa | Points Table
South Africa would still have taken their chances, but Shaheen Afridi (3-14) claimed two early wickets and removed Shadab Temba Bavuma and Aiden Markram, who built a promising third-wicket partnership of 49 in quick succession.
The skies opened soon after with South Africa on 69/4 after nine overs and an hour later they resumed with a revised target of 142 from five more under the Duckworth–Lewis–Stern method only to be bowled out at 108 for falling short by nine.

Despite the loss, the Proteas remain in second place behind India in Group 2 and will secure one of the two semi-final places if they beat the Netherlands in their final Super 12 match on Sunday.
To have any chance of progressing, Pakistan must beat Bangladesh in Sunday’s second game at Adelaide Oval and hope the Dutch have pulled off an upset if Zimbabwe manage to stun India in the final group game in Melbourne.
Pakistan’s hopes of reaching the last four were already hanging by a thread coming into the game and they looked around when top-order batsmen Mohammad Rizwan, Babar Azam and Shan Masood all left cheaply.

However, Mohammad Haris, who was thrown straight into the fray after coming into the squad as an injury replacement for Fakhar Zaman, showed his teammates the way with a blistering 28 off 11 balls that started with two sixes and a four .
Iftikhar, who hit 51, and Shadab, who hit 52 off 22 balls, followed up his lead with a partnership of 82 to transform the sixth wicket in the innings, which saw a downpour, a couple of boundaries and ‘ a flurry of wickets ended.
While Pakistan captain Azam’s miserable tournament continued with six runs that took his tally to 14 from four innings, his South African counterpart Bavuma suffered the early loss of opening partner Quinton de Kock for a duck picked up

Bavuma, whose previous three innings at the tournament had earned him 14 runs, hit a blistering 36 before being caught behind Shadab’s first delivery.
Markram was bowled for 20 two balls later and after the rain break, seamers Afridi, Mohammad Wasim and Naseem Shah successfully bowled the South Africans as they chipped away with regular wickets.