Pakistan v South Africa, 5th ODI, Lahore

Protease snatch victory from jaws of defeat to win series against Pakistan

LAHORE: South Africa defeated Pakistan by 14 runs in a thrilling finish when Pakistan collapsed from 199 for five to 219 all out in 46.3 overs in the in the fifth and the final One-day International here at the Gaddafi Stadium today.

They also won the five-match series against Pakistan 3-2.

Winning the toss, South Africa made 233 runs for nine wickets in the allotted 50 overs. Their most in-form batsman Jacques Kallis was the top-scorer with 86 while Herschelle Gibbs scored 54 and Jean-Paul Duminy made 44.

The most successful bowler from Pakistan was pacer Shoaib Akhtar, who is playing an international match after 14 months. The fast bowler captured four wickets while pacer Rao Iftikhar Anjum claimed three wickets. Sohail Tanveer and Shoaib Malik took one wicket each.

In reply, Pakistan’s top and middle order batsmen played well, particularly, Younus Khan and Muhammad Yousuf through their 106-run third wicket stand put Pakistan on the path of victory. They scored 58 and 53, respectively.

Later, captain Shoaib Malik and Misbah-ul-Haq carried the score to 199 but then the wickets began to fall and within 20 runs they were all out to give the Protease an unbelievable win in the match and the series.

From South Africa, pacers Albie Morkeel and Makhaya Ntini grabbed four wickets each.

Ntini was adjudged the man-of-the-match while Muhammad Yousuf of Pakistan was declared the-man-of-the-series.

Pakistan v South Africa, 4th ODI, Multan

A clinical South Africa levelled the five-match series 2-2 with a seven-wicket win over Pakistan in Multan. The visitors boosted their chances of a comeback by restricting Pakistan to 230 after the hosts decided to bat on a flat surface.

Following that, Shaun Pollock and Graeme Smith effortlessly outclassed the opposition with a match-winning 159-run stand after Herschelle Gibbs got the ball rolling. Pakistan failed to really fire with the bat and they completely fizzled in the field, putting all the pressure on themselves going into the final ODI in Lahore.

The home side was put under the kosh by Gibbs, who exploited the Powerplays by using his feet against the pace bowlers to get width and elevation. Inside six overs the field was scattered - fine leg was in, mid-on up, a man square out on the off-side boundary - but Gibbs continued to make it look easy in the middle with 39 from 35 balls. A flustered Shoaib Malik called Shahid Afridi in the second Powerplay and the in-form man - enjoying an exceptional 2007 with bat and ball - - got Gibbs first ball courtesy Billy Bowden's error in judgment. The ball, fast and sliding down leg stump, caught Gibbs on the knee roll as he hopped up. Replays showed it would have missed leg stump.

If Pakistan thought they had made a breakthrough, they were to be sorely disappointed. As Mickey Arthur, South Africa's coach, suggested the day before, Pollock was promoted because of his ability to play spin well and score quickly. And that's what he did, cutting Afridi for repeated fours and sweeping Abdur Rehman's left-arm spin to minimise the spinners' effect. It didn't help Pakistan's cause that the ball didn't turn much, but Pollock rose to the occasion, hitting his 13th ODI half-century without any fuss.

There was simply no pressure on him. He found the gaps almost every time he played a shot but what stood out was his ability to pick up boundaries. Mohammad Asif returned for a second spell and was whipped off the pads before being driven through cover; then Pollock pulled him for four more. After dropping Smith and giving him his umpteenth life of the series, Umar Gul returned just to be slapped for four and six in successive balls by Pollock. With 12 to win and 14 for a hundred, Pollock holed out to long-off for 90 from 84 balls but there was little remorse as he walked off.

Smith, meanwhile, had been confident pushing off the front foot into the gaps as Pakistan's body language slumped. He struggled to sweep but was fluent when offered width. Smith only had seven boundaries in his 81 but it hardly mattered as he supported Pollock and held up one end.

Like he has all series, Smith grafted but with South Africa only chasing a moderate total his approach worked like a charm on an easy batting track. He fell with just three to win and fiercely admonished himself with his choice of shot, but South Africa wouldn't have complained. In a see-saw first half, a watchful partnership of 91 between Younis Khan and Malik lifted Pakistan from a precarious 38 for 3 before Andre Nel's double-strike brought the visitors back into the game.

Younis was forced to buckle down right from the start, after Afridi miscued his first delivery against Makhaya Ntini to a back-pedalling Andre Nel at mid-on for 0. Yasir Hameed's first aggressive shot, in the ninth over, was intercepted by a diving Gibbs at midwicket and Mohammad Yousuf's slowness resulted in his first failure of the series, as he was run out for the 35th time in his career.

Younis mostly waited, watched, nudged and steered, and at times preferred walking across and flicking the pace bowlers across the line as he chugged along to his first fifty of the series. While Younis used his feet and hit Johan Botha for six over long-on, Malik also ticked along to raise the run-rate to four an over. After inside-edging Botha onto his boot early in his innings, Malik settled down, dropping the wrists or tucking off his pads for singles. When Jacques Kallis was thrown the ball in the 32nd over Malik checked a drive to mid-off, falling for a 54-ball 45.

South Africa kicked down that window of opportunity, with Nel picking up Younis and Misbah-ul-Haq in the 38th over, both to loose shots. Kamran Akmal and Rehman then pushed Pakistan over 200 with some aggressive but chancy strokes in a 60-run seventh-wicket stand. South Africa aren't ranked No. 2 in the world for nothing, and they came out in ruthless fashion. Their aspirations of maintaining their record of never having lost a bilateral ODI series against Pakistan just got a whole lot easier.

Pakistan v South Africa, 3rd ODI, Faisalabad

Yousuf steers Pakistan to convincing win over South Africa

FAISALABAD: Star batsman Muhammad Yousuf once again guided Pakistan to a convincing six-wicket victory and a 2-1 series lead over South Africa here at the Iqbal Stadium on Tuesday.

Yousuf scored his third successive score of over 50 runs and remained not out on 58, his 56 th ODI fifty. He has so far made one hundred and two fifties in the series.

Chasing a modest target of 198, Shahid Afridi opened for the first time in the series made a whirlwind 32 off 18 balls whereas his partner Yasir Hameed replacing Imran Nazir could score 18 from 46 balls. Younus Khan also made a brief stay and made only 10 and Pakistan were reeling at 68 for three when experienced Yousuf and captain Shoaib Malik came to their rescue.

Both batted sensibly and carried the score to 147 when Shoaib was dismissed for 42. He faced 62 balls and hit two fours and one six.

However, Yousuf continued his calm and steady innings and with Misbah-ul-Haq steered Pakistan to victory with 11 balls left.

Misbah contributed an unbeaten 29 off 32 balls with two fours and one six.

Albie Morkel claimed two wickets for 30 and Shaun Pollock and Makhaya Nitni took one wicket each.

Shahid Afridi for his allround performance was declared man-of-the-match. He made a breezy 32, grabbed three wickets and took two catches.

Earlier, Winning the toss, captain South Africa Graeme Smith chose to bat first and opened the innings with Hershelle Gibbs to give a 43-run stand. However, other batsmen could not contribute useful scores except Justin Kemp, who made 42 off 74 balls with two sixes. Smith was the top scorer with 48 off 68 balls with five fours.

Pace bowler Iftikhar Anjum and leg-spinner Shahid Afridi captured three wickets each for 33 and 37, respectively while Umar Gul claimed two for 25 and left-arm spinner Abdul Rehman took one wicket.


Man Of The Match: Shahid Khan Afridi