CWC2023 : South Africa escapes with a thrilling 1 wkt win over Pakistan , head league table

South Africa proved, yes!  The nickname 'Chokers' still sits next to their name.  That is, they still have the habit of losing from the very moment they win.  South Africa did the exact opposite against Pakistan in Chennai on Friday.  70 percent of the match they showed power and were under pressure at the last minute.  From there they won the match against Pakistan.  The victory came by one wicket in a hard-fought match.  Not only that, South Africa tops the points list, topping India.  Like India, they have 10 points but the run rate is 2.032 which is much more than India.

South Africa has to thank  one behind this victory.  He is Keshav Maharaj.  South Africa were virtually on the brink when Aiden Markram returned for 91 in the 41st over, caught by Babar Azam.  No other established batter was at the crease.  There were plenty of balls in hand, but lacked batsmen to score the remaining 21 runs.  From there, Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi and Tabreiz Shamsi fought hard.  They did not back down in front of the fearsome image of Pakistan's pacers and won the match with time.  And that victory was led by Keshav Maharaj.  Because he played most of the balls.

If Maharaj is the hero, then Markram should be the villain.  Many feel that he deserves this 'award' even after scoring 91 runs.  Around 60 balls fell in hand.  21 runs were needed to win.  Markram had a golden opportunity to become a hero.  On the other hand, Shaheen Afridi said that he played a big shot for no reason and gave an easy catch.  His schoolboy blunders cost South Africa a little more

 Pakistan won the toss and batted first.  Six matches have passed in the World Cup.  But still Pakistan's opening pair is not fixed.  Even in important matches like South Africa on Friday, their opening pair only got 20.  Abdullah Shafique is not getting runs after scoring a century.  On this side, Imam-ul-Haq is being dropped despite not getting a run in the match after the match.  Shafiq made 9 on this day.  Imam's contribution 12.  Both openers are out for 38 runs.

The experienced Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan were forced to take the lead.  Both of them tried to deal with the batting collapse.  Rizwan fell in front of the bowling of Marco Janssen , caught behind  trying to pull him .  The two people also quarrelled.  Rizwan (31)  played with Babar for some time after that.  But like the previous matches, he has to come back after a good start.  Iftikhar Ahmed (21), who came down to the fifth place, could not force the pace .

 Babar, however, was playing in a normal rhythm.  Did not go in any hurry.  He was leading the innings calmly by playing risk-free shots.  He also started well and failed to score big runs.  Tabreiz Shamsi got him out on the review trying to sweep at 50 .  Pakistan's run that crossed the two-and-a-half hundred mark after that was thanks to the contributions of Saud Shakeel and Shadab Khan.

 Shadab has not batted in any match for long but played some solid strokes .  He scored valuable 43 runs at the crease at crucial times on Friday.  His 84-run partnership with Shakeel for the sixth wicket took Pakistan to a fairly respectable score.  Shakeel (52) scored a half century.  Mohammad Nawaz (24) also played well later helping Pakistan to reach 270 but Pakistan failed to last the final 3 overs that proved very costly in the end .

Babar surprised during fielding.  In the beginning,  he  handed over the ball to the part-time spinner Iftikhar.  Iftikhar hit the first ball so far outside the leg stump that the wicketkeeper could do nothing.  South Africa get five runs in wides early on.  In the next over, Quinton de Kock hit Shaheen Afridi for four consecutive fours with breathtaking strokeplay that included some majestic cover drives  .  D'Kock, who has scored three centuries in the current World Cup, started the day in a great way.

 It was Shaheen who later got him out.  D'Kock pulled the short ball.  Mohammed Wasim caught at square leg.  Bavuma (28) started well but did not go far.  Rasi van der Dusen (21) and Heinrich Klassen (12) left cheaply .

However   Markram was playing alone. He played dazzling shots all round the ground and batted positively.   On the other side, he was building the innings with David Miller.  70 runs for the fifth wicket.  Miller (29) went caught behind off Afridi .  But Marco Jansen had faith in him by smacking Haris Rauf for a 4 and a straight field brilliant 6 but cut straight to point to be out for a 14 ball 20 and brought Pakistan right back in the game  .   Pakistan tasted victory from the Markram dismissal moment as he hit Usama to Babar in the point region to be caught for 91 .  Babar wanted to take advantage by giving the ball to the pacers.  That plan didn't work as the South African bowlers showed great grit in trying to win the match . Coetzee (10) and Ngidi (4) batted for a long time with a gritty Keshav Maharaj before Coetzee was caught behind off Afridi and Rauf caught and bowled brilliantly to dismiss Ngidi before Maharaj created history with his gripping last wicket stand with a determined Shamsi .

For Pakistan Shaheen took 3 wickets while Wasim and Haris took 2 each while concussed sub Usama Mir who came in for Shadab took 2 wickets .

This win puts South Africa right on top of the league table with maximum points helped by the best NRR ahead of India who is now at second spot .

Pakistan look virtually out of this world cup .