South Africa recorded a thrilling one-wicket win to beat Pakistan in the 26th match of the ICC World Cup 2023 on Saturday, October 27. Tabraiz Shamsi took four wickets to bowl out Pakistan on 270 runs and then a brilliant knock from Aiden Markram boosted South Africa to a deserving win in Chennai.
The Proteas also topped the points table with two more points and now Pakistan face a near-impossible task to secure the semifinal spot. This was Pakistan's fourth straight loss in the tournament and they find themselves struggling in the sixth position with four points after six games.
Pakistan captain Babar Azam won the toss at Chennai's MA Chidambaram Stadium and elected to bat first. Mohammad Wasim and Mohammad Nawaz came in for Usama Mir and Hasan Ali while South Africa welcomed captain Temba Bavuma and pacer Lungi Ngidi back.
Pakistan struggled for a positive start again with openers Abdullah Shafique and Imam-ul-Haq walking out with just 38 runs on the scoreboard. In-form pace all-rounder Marco Jansen dismissed both openers and also picked Mohammad Nawaz's big wicket to top the bowling chart in the tournament with 13 wickets.
Babar Azam recorded his third fifty in the tournament by scoring 50 runs off 65 balls before losing his wicket to Tabraiz Shamsi. Saud Shakeel and Shadab Khan pulled off 84 runs for the sixth wicket to help Pakistan score a challenging total. Shakeel top-scored with 52 runs off 52 balls while Shadab contributed 43 runs. Shamsi picked four wickets and Jansen bagged three for the Proteas.
Last game's hero Quinton de Kock picked up where he left off and gave South Africa a quick start. He scored 24 off just 14 balls but was not able to convert it into a big knock. Shaheen gave Pakistan a breakthrough with de Kock's wicket and Wasim dismissed Bavuma to balance the game early.
But in-form batter Aiden Markram played out another sensational knock to put South Africa in the driving seat for the majority of the game. Markram scored 91 runs off 93 balls but didn't get much support from his teammate with David Miller being the second-highest leading run-getter with 29 runs.
After Markram's dismissal, in the 41st over, Shaheen Afridi and Usama Mir took the game to the wire with timely wickets. Haris Rauf pulled off a stunning one-handed catch on a follow-through to give Pakistan a ninth wicket in the 46th over. But South Africa narrowly prevailed with Keshav Maharaj scoring winning runs with a four off Mohammad Nawaz.
South Africa Playing XI: Quinton de Kock (wk), Temba Bavuma (c), Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Gerald Coetzee, Keshav Maharaj, Tabraiz Shamsi, Lungi Ngidi.
Pakistan Playing XI: Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saud Shakeel, Shadab Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Haris Rauf.
