It was their fourth victory in 21 Tests in England over 40 years and their first since a 1-0 victory in a two-Test series 10 years ago
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In Sunday’s final, Pakistan will meet the winner of Friday’s semifinal between Sri Lanka and West Indies.
Shahid Afridi starred for Pakistan by striking 51 in the total of 149-4. Then he took 2-16 as previously unbeaten South Africa was limited to 142-5.
Pakistan batted its last five overs without scoring a boundary, but South Africa failed to keep up with the run rate.
After 10 overs South Africa was 61-3 and though opener Jacques Kallis survived an appeal for caught behind in Afridi’s final over, the 13th, the required run rate had increased to nearly 11.
Sensing the danger, Kallis went for broke when Fawad Alam came on to bowl the 15th over, which went for 15.
But Umar Gul bowled the 16th and nearly ran out JP Duminy from the first ball and limited South Africa to just six runs.
Needing 39 from 18 balls, Kallis tried to hit Saeed Ajmal into the River Trent at the start of the 18th over, but his slashing innings ended for 64 off 54 balls when he was caught at long off by Shoaib Malik.
Gul restricted Duminy and Albie Morkel to six from the penultimate over, meaning 23 were needed from the final six balls from 17-year-old medium-pacer Mohammad Aamer.
Duminy missed the first, but hit the second for six. From the third he tried to come back for a second run but Alam’s direct throw ran out Morkel for 2. Aamer fumbled the chance of a run out from the fourth, and Duminy smacked four from the penultimate ball, and that left the Proteas needing an impossible 10 from the last delivery.
Aamer held his nerve, avoided bowling a no ball, and conceded just a boundary for Pakistan to reach the final.
It was their fourth victory in 21 Tests in England over 40 years and their first since a 1-0 victory in a two-Test series 10 years ago
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The visitors seem set to claim victory on Monday, barring yet another twist in a Test match full of them
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Virat Kohli also returns to the Test team after he missed the five matches against England at home due to the birth of his second child
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The first Asian-origin cricketer to captain England in T20Is, Ali has scored five centuries in tests and three in ODIs, also taking 366 wickets across all three formats
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The former all-rounder has returned to cricket during the past year after a horrific car crash at the end of 2022
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Three stadiums in Pakistan are undergoing renovation work for next year's Champions Trophy
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The T20 series will be played between September 11-15 with the ODI series taking place from September 19-29
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ICC Chief Executive Geoff Allardice along with other ECB officials was also present on the occasion
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