Pakistan defeated by one wicket in a nail-biting thriller

Pakistan was defeated by one wicket in a nail-biting thriller at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Friday.

Pakistan captain Babar Azam won the toss and elected to bat first against South Africa in a must-win game of the World Cup 2023. They were bowled out for 270 runs in 46.4 overs.

In response, South Africa scored 271 runs with loss of nine wickets and 16 balls remaining.

Pakistan lost their openers – Abdullah Shafique (9) and Imamul Haq (12) – for cheap scores as Marco Jansen struck twice to bring the team under pressure.

Skipper Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan tried to build a partnership in order to boost the total but Gerald Coetzee dismissed the latter for 31. The Pakistan captain was removed for 50 and Iftikhar Ahmed fell for 21 by Tabraiz Shamsi.

At that time Saud Shakeel (52) and Shadab Khan (43) took the aggressive route and put scores on the board with fiery boundaries.

Squads:
Pakistan: Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq/Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Usama Mir, Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Haris Rauf

South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Temba Bavuma (c), Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Gerald Coetzee, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi