A knock of 81 from Hashim Amla and Ryan McLaren’s 4-19 steered South Africa to a 67-run win over Pakistan at Edgbaston in Birmingham, England on Monday, to all but eliminate Misbah-ul-Haq’s side from the ICC Champions Trophy.
The decision could have proved costly under the cloudy skies of Edgbaston, but Hashim Amla was dropped by Umar Amin and set South Africa off to a solid start.
An opening partnership of 53 with Colin Ingham and another 69 with Faf du Plessis gave South Africa a good foundation to build on.
De Villiers then joined Amla at the crease to hit the only six of the innings, however a few balls later Amla was out, a poorly timed reverse sweep gave Mohammad Hafeez an easy catch, ending his innings on 81.
The help of four run-outs and a stunning catch by captain Misbah restricted South Africa to 234 for nine from their 50 overs.
It looked a modest total, but if South Africa had made batting look difficult, then Pakistan made it seem near-impossible.
Imran Farhat was bowled by Chris Morris for two in the second over and the debutante paceman then removed Mohammad Hafeez for seven.
Then as the run rate climbed and the pressure grew – Nasir was caught-and-bowled by Lonwabo Tsotsobe for 42 with the score on 86 and although Misbah remained a threat, the regular tumbling of Pakistan wickets around him swung the game decisively in South Africa’s favour.
When the captain was dismissed for 55, at 148 for 7, the writing was on the wall and soon Junaid Khan was the last man out, bowled by Ryan McLaren for 4, giving South Africa the win by 67 runs.
