9.45 pm It's begun to rain again at the Wanderers and that is it. The match has been called off and South Africa win by four runs on the D/L method.
In such a finish there are so many ifs and buts. Pakistan got really close, and were a boundary away from winning the game.
Majid Hassan Butt: "@Faisal Cricket is not played in the books. It is not easy for players to ignore the real match situation and try to deal with the D/L. Hafeez might have gone for a six and got out. 10 minutes later, the match might have restarted. It is all luck."
Thank you for all your emails today, I'm going to head off. Got an early start tomorrow to watch the first day of the Ashes. Cheers.
9.40 pm The rain has stopped and the super soppers are at work. I don't think we'll get most of the remaining overs in though. I'll have official word for you as soon as I can.
Faisal Muqeet: "When Hafeez saw rain pouring down, he should've taken a chance to clear the ropes on one delivery he faced. That would've taken Pakistan past the D/L par score."
9.20 pm The rain's thinned at the Wanderers, where a pitch invader has managed to get on to the field. He had a decent run before the guards got him.
Irfan: "When you are not doing well luck deserts you too. Pakistan didn't need this bad luck of being just 4 runs short on D/L. However they should have monitored the par score. Nasir cost them the game today." They might get back on the field yet.
Zohaib: "@Irfan: I won't blame anyone if Pakistan lose from here due to D/L method without further playing. It was wise to keep wickets in hand when facing quality fast bowlers in the beginning. Had they threw more wickets par score would have been much higher and if they have to play from here, without wickets in hand they would never have chased."
Waseem: "@Irfan: @ Zohaib: If Jamshed had scored run a ball also Pakistan would have 3 runs ahead at this stage... Strange ..... But playing 25 balls for 18 (two boundaries of edges) would certainly not work in a T20 while chasing."
9.05 pm It's begun to rain and the players go off the field. It's pretty heavy too. In ten minutes, the officials will start reducing overs, and there are only 10.5 overs to go. Pakistan are four runs behind the D-L par score at the moment. So if there is no more play, South Africa will win. The rain is really heavy and it's looking rather bleak.
Sekar Rangasamy: "How many overs Pak should have played to apply the D/L method in T20? is it 10 Overs? or 9?" It's five overs.
Farhad: "How many overs do we need for a complete game in second innings?" Five.
END OF OVER:9 | 8 Runs | PAK: 59/2 (95 runs required from 11 overs, RR: 6.55, RRR: 8.63)
- Mohammad Hafeez12 (14b)
- Umar Akmal7 (6b)
- Imran Tahir1-0-8-0
- Jean-Paul Duminy1-0-2-1
Thunder and lightning. The groundstaff are ready with the covers.
Rakesh S: "Jamshed's torturous stay comes to an end in a most silly manner. Maybe it's natural, because he was playing and struggling in such a manner."
Imran Tahir to bowl legbreaks from over the wicket.