Vineet Sharma/Zeecric.com
Nottingham, June 18: Pakistan came up with a stunning performance to tame the South African lions from entering into the finals of the T20 WC and going into the main arena for the second time in a row. The final scorecard confirmed their victory over the Proteas by 7 runs.
The hapless South Africans could not shed the chokers tag yet again as they squandered great form in face of crisis and falling short just when the goal was visible.
Afridi was the wrecker-in-charge for his team as hell bent on claiming the trophy for his country. He struck over and over again with the cherry, claiming the crucial top-order wickets, was economical and also ran amuck with the bat
The guile with which he got the man-in-form AB de Villiers clean bowled was stuff legends are made of.The batting of a charged–up Pakistan squad had somehow managed to post a target of 150 runs for a clinical South Africa.
The latter were dead on target, especially in the last five overs, a trait that would come handy in crunch situations. JP Duminy’s claiming of Shahid Afridi was truly the turning point for the bowling side as he was looking ominous, cracking his whip like willow for boundaries at ease.
Pakistan had dug a hole early on in their campaign as two quick wickets were lost in the effort to get off to a flier. Shahzaib Hasan went for a duck while Kamran Akmal perished after giving a short burst of boundaries at 23.
Scorecard: Pakistan v South Africa»
Younis Khan had won the toss and elected to bat first against South Africa in the first semi-final of the T20 World Cup 2009.
South Africa made a vital change in their squad, bringing in Jaques Kallis in place of Morne Morkel.
Pakistan (Playing XI): Kamran Akmal(w), Shahzaib Hasan, Shahid Afridi, Younis Khan(c), Misbah Ul-Haq, Abdul Razzaq, Shoaib Malik, Fawad Alam, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Mohammad Aamer
South Africa (Playing XI): Jacques Kallis, Graeme Smith(c), Herschelle Gibbs, AB de Villiers, Jean-Paul Duminy, Mark Boucher(w), Albie Morkel, Roelof van der Merwe, Johan Botha, Wayne Parnell, Dale Steyn
First Published: Thursday, June 18, 2009, 21:48