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Amla shines in South Africa win

South Africa kept their cool to withstand a late fightback from Fawad Alam and clinched a thriller by two runs against Pakistan at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Tuesday night.

Needing 12 runs to win from the last over, Pakistan could manage only nine runs from it. Rusty Theron, an expert in bowling in slog overs, despite giving three runs via a no-ball in the very first ball, struck back taking the wicket of Saeed Ajmal in the fifth ball and turned the match in his side’s favour.

Alam remained not out on 59 from 67 balls. Having claimed the big wickets of captain Shahid Afridi and Abdul Razzaq cheaply, South Africans were truly on top before Alam utilised the batting Powerplay well to give a good fight.

Alam received good support from fast bowler Wahab Riaz, who hit a massive six over the covers off Morne Morkel in the 47^th over to give hopes of a Pakistan victory. They added 33 runs from 2.4 overs before Riaz falling to Morkel for 21 from 11 balls.

The victory helped South Africa gain a 2-1 lead in the five-match Cool & Cool Cup, with the remaining matches to be played on Friday and Monday.

Morne Morkel was the pick of the bowlers, as the fast bowler, despite going for 47 runs from his 10 overs, bagged four wickets. Lonawabo Tsotsobe was economical and effective as well, taking one for 28 runs. Hashim Amla, who hit a splendid century earlier, was declared man-of-the-match.

After losing two early wickets, Pakistan were back on track following a steady 85-run third wicket partnership between Imran Farhat and Asad Shafiq. Both were run out on decisive phases of the match. Pakistan failed to recover from the fall of their two well-settled batsmen, who took their time to settle in.

Now, their chances in the match remained certainly on the big hitters like Afridi and Razzaq. Both however failed to make an impact with the bat this time. Jacques Kallis, who fell for a duck earlier, made amends by taking the big wicket of last-match hero Razzaq (12) in the 41^st over.

Following the fall of Farhat’s wicket, Afridi showed indications of another sparkling innings by smashing Johan Botha over the covers for a six. That six helped him break the record of Sanath Jayasuriya and became the highest six-hitter of all-time across all formats. But Afridi couldn’t progress further, as he fell in the very next over to Morkel for seven.

Pakistan started their chase in a disastrous fashion, as their score was 23-2 by the end of 10 overs, with Mohammad Hafeez (4) and Younis Khan (0) back in the pavilion already.

Earlier, opener Amla’s sixth one-day century helped South Africa, sent into bat first, post a competitive total of 228-9. It was a perfectly-paced one-day knock as Amla, hitting the fifth century this year, anchored the innings intelligently on a slow-paced wicket.

He remained cool till the end despite witnessing the fall of wickets at the other end. Amla, one of the most consistent ODI batsmen in international cricket with an average of 59.73, scored 119 runs from 126 balls and bailed out South Africa from a precarious position. It eventually turned out to be a virtual contest between Amla and Pakistan. The 27-year old batsman added 42 runs for the third wicket with AB de Villiers, 59 for the fourth wicket with JP Duminy, 37 with Albie Morkel for the sixth wicket and 38 with Johan Botha for the seventh.

Amla’s knock added decency to the score as the next top scorer for South Africa was Duminy with 26. Amla, who has scored 986 runs from 13 ODI matches this year, has also been in outstanding form this series, adding 219 runs from three matches at an average of 109.50.

Shoaib Akthar was in his elements during the match, as the pacer bowled slow off cutters at will to make life difficult for the batsmen. Despite his last over proving a bit costly, Akhtar bowled a splendid spell, taking three for 39 from his quota of 10 overs. His slow bowling fetched him two wickets in the initial spell as he sent back opener Kallis and Colin Ingram, giving Pakistan a bright start.

The match had its share of controversy as well, when the third umpire Zameer Haider ruled De Villiers out when the replay suggested that the batsman was well inside the crease before the wicketkeeper Zulqarnain Haider completed the stumping.

Afridi proved a bit expensive, going for 53 in his 10 overs, but the captain picked up two wickets, while part-time spinner Hafeez bagged two for 34 from seven overs.

pradeep@khaleejtimes.com

SCOREBOARD

South Africa

Hashim Amla not out 119

J. Kallis b Akhtar 0

C. Ingram c and b Akhtar 4

AB de Villiers st Haider b Afridi 19

JP Duminy c Haider b Hafeez 26

D. Miller b Hafeez 6

A. Morkel c Hafeez b Afridi 19

J. Botha b Akhtar 15

M. Morkel c Alam b Riaz 2

R. Theron run out 5

Extras: (lb1, nb1, w11) 13

Total: (for nine wickets) 228

Did not bat: L. Tsotsobe

Fall of wickets: 1-9 (Kallis), 2-15 (Ingram), 3-57 (De Villiers), 4-116 (Duminy), 5-126 (Miller), 6-163 (A. Morkel), 7-201 (Botha), 8-211 (M. Morkel), 9-

Bowling: Akhtar 10-1-39-3 (1nb, 5w), Razzaq 5-1-19-0, Riaz 10-1-46-1 (2w), Ajmal 6-0-36-0, Afridi 10-0-53-2 (3w), Hafeez 9-0-34-2 (1w)

Pakistan:

Imran Farhat run out 47

Mohammad Hafeez c Botha b Tsotsobe 4

Younis Khan c Botha b M. Morkel 0

Asad Shafiq run out 43

Shahid Afridi c de Villiers b M. Morkel 7

Fawad Alam not out 59

Abdul Razzaq c de Villiers b Kallis 12

Zulqarnain Haider c Amla b M. Morkel 11

Wahab Riaz c de Villiers b M. Morkel 21

Saeed Ajmal c de Villiers b Theron 2

Shoaib Akhtar not out 1

Extras: (lb13, nb 1, w5) 19

Total: (for nine wickets) 226

Fall of wickets: 1-12 (Hafeez), 2-13 (Younis), 3-98 (Farhat), 4-108 (Afridi), 5-121 (Shafiq), 6-148 (Razzaq), 7-176 (Haider), 8-209 (Riaz), 9-225 (Ajmal)

Bowling: M. Morkel 10-1-47-4 (1w), Tsotsobe 10-1-28-1 (2w), Kallis 7-0-30-1 (1w), Theron 8-0-49-1 (1nb), Botha 10-0-42-0, Duminy 5-0-17-0 (1w)