DURBAN: Pakistan captain Misbahul Haq led his side to a three-wicket win over South Africa in the fourth One-Day International (ODI), setting up a series decider in the final match in Benoni.
Misbah made 80 and Imran Farhat scored 93 as Pakistan chased down South Africa’s total of 234 for nine with eight balls to spare.
Misbah and opening batsman Farhat shared a 153-run fourth wicket partnership after Pakistan had been struggling at 33 for three after 11 overs.
The early wickets included that of Mohammad Hafeez, who was given out for obstructing the field in the second over.
He changed direction and was hit on the leg by a throw from South African wicket-keeper and captain AB de Villiers, who was throwing at the stumps at the bowler’s end when Hafeez was several metres out of his ground.
Hafeez was only the fourth batsmen – and the third Pakistani -- to be dismissed for obstructing the field in ODIs.
Pakistan’s fast-bowlers struck early and off-spinner Saeed Ajmal took three crucial middle order wickets as South Africa struggled after winning the toss, despite a fourth wicket stand of 115 between captain De Villiers (75) and David Miller (67).
De Villiers and Miller gave the home side hope of making a good total before Miller missed a sweep against Ajmal and was out after a career-best innings. Miller’s 67 was scored off 77 balls and he hit seven fours.
Misbah pleased with show
The Pakistan captain, who has yet to hit a ODI century in 113 matches, was a pleased man nevertheless. “It was a much-needed win,” said Misbah. “Everybody put in their 100% in and it was a team effort. Farhat batted really well. We need one batsman to stay till the end and he showed that responsibility.
“The seamers bowled really well. It was like we were playing in Lahore, thanks to the crowd. It was not easy the way South Africa bowled. We were put under a lot of pressure.”
De Villiers credited Pakistan for the win. “Its two quality sides,” said de Villiers. “Unfortunately, we lost the momentum too many times today. We showed character with the bat, but didn’t put the pressure. Pakistan just outplayed us in certain areas.”
Published in The Express Tribune, March 22nd, 2013.
COMMENTS (14)
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Afridi should retire now, iI agree with Sry ,Afiridi has no temperament to play for the team. never had or developed that temperament.
@ Sry brother you nailed it , it is the boom boom culture that has destroyed all the batsmen. Look it Umer Akmal and Imran Nazir all wasted due to the boom boom culture. Thank god for sensible guys like Azher and Asad we have some sanity left in our batting. Afridi has always played for himself , if he was never a team player. If he had played sensibly all these years we would have won so many games and should have done justice to his talent.
With this team selection Pak did not deserve to win .. Well played Misbah , but that does not make him a hero .. Pak must find a way to put Shafiq and Umar Akmal into the batting line up ..
Funny is that both ET and Dawn could not find their own reporting for this crucial match and resorted to AFP!
congrats team pakistan. Afridi you need to play cricket with this patron, play first 15 balls without taking any serious risk & concentrate on singles & two's. afterwards when you adjust yourself with the pace & bounce of the wicket then go for sixes & fours. it would be much better to build & finish your innings on singles & two's as you will certainly find at least 1 boundary in an over. you are star & now 33, so expectations & competition is very high. unless you don't play well consistently both with the bowl & bat you will not occupy your place in this team. Good luck LALa!
Falling to 33 runs for 4 wickets and then recovering to win the fourth ODI exhibits maturity and stability in thought and action. This is what we our team is devoid of and it is promising to see it seeping into our thinking with new and intelligent players. Afridi has a particular style that remains his trademark to date and no point in criticizing him for his inclusion. The T20 World Cup that Pakistan won in UK was due to the steadfastness and intelligent play by Afridi to whom we remain thankful. The cricket team requires a systemic change in team selection with the Kamran brothers being shown the door and flimsy excuses of Sarfaraz Ahmed not being selected for ODI series due to his performance. This is a frivolous and untenable excuse and the PCB must look objectively and not subjectively. Another reason for change is Wahab Riaz who is an erratic bowler and an excellent find is Junaid Khan. Shoaib Malik must perform impressively in batting to earn a place. There are many excellent players in Pakistan who are capable of impeccable performance if only the PCB will change its attitude and stop selecting from Lahore and start looking at Pakistan. A glaring example is the Karachi Blues who consistently win the Quaid e Azam Cup. Salams
@Sry: this is a bitter reality Sir especially in Karachi. Almost all my colleagues and friends are still critical of Misbah.. They would still criticize him for not playing fast enough, and if had played fast enough in the two recent ODIs which Pakistan won, then they will criticize for not having a ton. And if nothing works, they will say that he is over-age. Most of the fans would bear Pakistan losing but Afridi blistering fast-forward fifty rather than the 'slow batting' of Imran Farhat and Afridi. . Imo, cricket fans in Pakistan face lack of temperament, similar to what their players do in the ground. we complain that there is no cricket in Pakistan, but when we had, we could hardly see a couple of dozen people turn up for a test match.. We need to get out of '20-20' mindset if we really want to maintain our glory...
No matter what, young batsmen should have been part of the team..Asad Shafiq, Ahmed Shahzeb and Nasir Jamshed deserved a full series. Misbah and Shoaib performed but we need to gromm the younger lot in such pressure cooker situations.
@Sry: I agree with you 100%. We also should remember how he nurtured the team when three of our top players were caught in the match fixing scandal and Afridi suddenly walked out of Test captaincy leaving the boat rocking.
Well done Misbah! You are a hero!
Although, Imran scored 93, but throughout his innings he looked uncomfortable and there was no timing in his stroke play and his shot selection was poor. He was playing for himself and almost gifted the match to SA at the end as he was more concerned about his century. Thank God he was dismissed or else Pakistan would have been on the losing side with Imrran scoring his century.
One day series are fixed to keep the excitement and to generate maximum revenue.
Congrats GREEN SHIRTS.
I don't know why Afridi draws so much ridicule. He plays with a certain style and he's said he doesn't want to play test cricket. When he gets going, he is very exciting.
Pakistan in general needs to groom young batsmen. Why Umar Akmal is on the bench is anyone's guess.
Selectors should ask themselves: if a team is weak in batting, why play 4 specialist bowlers?
Although he has his faults, the main reason Misbah faces obsessive criticism is because we are too accustomed to Afridi-type batsmen (who aren't really batsmen).
Look at the way Misbah played in this match, like a real captain and a responsible cricketer. The funny thing is he will still be criticised for being too slow and and not performing, even though in this series he has averaged over 50 at a strike rate of over 75(Pakistan's best performer with the bat). We need to get rid of boom-boom culture.