Breathe a sigh of relief! Pakistan are always an unpredictable team, and once again, they prove it. The same goes for South Africa, especially when they are chasing the target. A roller coaster of the highest order. Everyone wanted the thriller, and tonight, they have one. It was an unbelievable game with a lot of ups and downs. At the end of it all, South Africa held their nerves and went past Pakistan by the barest of the margins. They move to the top of the points table, and we have a double-header tomorrow! Two banger games coming your way, and both have their own standards!
For now, I am AkshayaKrishna Polya, signing off on behalf of my co-commentator Akshay Bhide and helping buddies Ajay Ahire and Sidharth Gulati. The scorer/analyst of this nail-biter was Zeeshan Naiyer- a big cheer to the main man! We will meet again. Until then, its cheers!
Keshav Maharaj celebrating after hitting the winning runs 👇👇
Temba Bavuma (South Africa Captain):"Guys are enjoying at the moment and it's all chaos in the dressing room, Nail biting finish here and especially since you are a South African fan it must be great. And as said You need to have guys there in a pressure situation like this.
Still enjoying the victory but we'll look forward to what went wrong. We have a blueprint regarding the batting first scenario and also the same while we are chasing the total. And we try to give our best all the time.
KG is having a back spasm and needs some rest. But hopefully, he will be back for the NZ game. Superb batting from the senior pros in the end to get us over the line."
Babar Azam (Pakistan Captain):"Yes, to be honest. We were very close but disappointed not to finish on the winning side.
We fought back very well. In the batting we, were 10-15 runs short. But the way we bowled was good. The spinners and the pacers were brilliant.
To be honest, it's part of the game. If the umpire had given OUT, it would have favored us. It's Umpire's Call on the drs and we have to take it.
We showed great fight and took the game to the last over. If we had won this game, we would have kept ourselves alive in the competition.
Yes. We will try our best in the next three matches. We will look to be at our best and play for Pakistan."
Tabraiz Shamsi (Player of the Match): "Thank you very much. Thanks a lot. Yeah. Really happy. Obviously, I knew I had to do the job there. While bowling at a set batter, it's not easy and the credit to the boys for the way they bowled upfront.
You have played enough cricket to understand that sometimes it goes your way and sometimes it doesn't go your way. Probably, shouldn't have been here with the pads on but I will take it.
If I thought of playing a big shot, we would have been in the dressing room. These are the moments that you work hard for. But Keshav was sensational with the bat and credit to Lungi as well."
Player of the Match: Tabraiz Shamsi
Pakistan vs South Africa in World Cups since 2000: 2009 T20 WC - PAK won 2010 T20 WC - PAK won 2012 T20 WC - PAK won 2015 WC - PAK won 2019 WC - Pak won 2022 T20 WC - PAK won 2023 WC - SA won
Highest successful chases by South Africa in ODI World Cups: