7.30 pm So ends a rather thrilling game of one-day cricket with ball dominating over bat, hmm.. that's a twist. Do stick around as Firdose Moonda will send in her report and there are loads more on the site to tinker around with. From here though, on behalf of our scorer Gopi Rangarajan, this is Alagappan Muthu thanking you for your company tonight. Sayonara Anwar Ali is Man of the Match and he says he wanted to go out there and enjoy his batting and play his natural game. His conversations with Bhatti revolved around using up the full 50 overs and taking it one ball at a time and maybe they can take the score to 250. He says they have played together a lot in domestic cricket and that familiarity helped here. He admitted to feeling nervous at the start, but as he spent more time in the middle he got calmer.
Mibah-ul-Haq says no one can imagine how happy he is with the victory, especially with it being set up by two debutants. He said the plan was to negotiate the new ball, keeping the run-rate around 4-4.25, and then accelerate towards the end. But they kept losing wickets at the wrong time with batsmen getting out after getting starts. The two youngsters made up for it though pushing the total past 200 and said though it was a dodgy total, the bowlers did very well. The plan with the ball was to pick up early wickets and the pitch being slow suited their kind of bowling. The spinners always bowl their hearts out, he continues, in any conditions. Bilawal Bhatti has been bowling very well in Pakistan, with consistent pace. He needed to work on his line and length and it is good to see him doing so well here
AB de Villiers says the bowlers had done a brilliant job getting them seven down, but they had let it slip in the end but he was happy with Pakistan's final total. Against a world-class attack South Africa were put under pressure and they could not soak it in. He admitted South Africa have been having trouble chasing and pointed out the lack of partnerships as one of the major reasons for the loss and said the side would look to the experienced players like Jacques Kallis who played really well to help them put up a better performance in the next game, should they bat second again. He adds that the pitch wasn't bat, definitely slowed down towards the end but 218 was not a par score.
Stick around, the presentation is on its way and I suspect the two debutants will have their hands full by the end of it
Hassan: "Pakistan batting can be unpredictable while chasing small targets .. but bowling always sees them through even while defending small totals.. well done Pakistan"
SKhan: "Turning point had to be the double strike by Anwar his 2nd spell removing well settled Kallis and then dangerous Miller" I'd say it was Afridi removing AB, and Pakistan made sure they pushed home that advantage
7.00 pm Dav Whatmore has a very content smile on his face, one that is well deserved as his bowlers have really come through in this game. Bilawal Bhatti and Anwar Ali, who had dug the side out of trouble while batting, came to the fore with the ball as well, picking up five wickets between them while Pakistan's spinners were their usual economical selves, so much that Ajmal went under three an over, while picking up two wickets. Jacques Kallis looked breathtaking in his first match back in some time, JP Duminy did his best to shepherd the tail, but his efforts went in vain for the second time in three days
M Morkel b Bilawal Bhatti 17 (25m 18b 1x4 1x6) SR: 94.44
Khurram Zia Khan: "Good to see Pakistan's fast bowlers picking up more wickets then spinners in this match so far"
END OF OVER:48 | 3 Runs | SA: 195/9 (24 runs required from 12 balls, RR: 4.06, RRR: 12.00)
- Morne Morkel17 (17b)
- Imran Tahir0 (0b)
- Junaid Khan8-0-38-1
- Bilawal Bhatti7-0-37-2
Junaid is back, with mid-off up, third man back, long-on back, deep square leg
END OF OVER:47 | 5 Runs 1 Wkt | SA: 192/9 (27 runs required from 18 balls, RR: 4.08, RRR: 9.00)
- Morne Morkel14 (11b)
- Bilawal Bhatti7-0-37-2
- Saeed Ajmal10-0-28-2
Pakistan have their noses ahead again as Imran Tahir comes out. Morne is at his ear immediately for some idle chit-chat
DW Steyn b Bilawal Bhatti 15 (44m 32b 1x4 1x6) SR: 46.87
fine leg up, long-on back
Ahmad: "do you really expect pakistanis to have any nails left???"
Misbah has made another change, Junaid has been taken off and on comes young Bilawal Bhatti Can he get those yorkers in again?
END OF OVER:46 | 6 Runs | SA: 187/8 (32 runs required from 24 balls, RR: 4.06, RRR: 8.00)
- Dale Steyn11 (28b)
- Morne Morkel13 (9b)
- Saeed Ajmal10-0-28-2
- Junaid Khan7-0-35-1
tanweer alam: "well for those anticipating it as an upset should know that with Pakistan you can not even predict an upset . Wait till the last ball is balled"
round the wicket