Pakistan vs South Africa : दक्षिण अफ्रीका के खिलाफ पाकिस्तान की ऐतिहासिक जीत
Pakistan have booked their place in the final. Their batting especially Rizwan and Agha bailed them out today, their bowling and fielding still needs some fine tuning. South Africa will be slightly concerned as they have allowed the opposition to chase down 300+ twice in two games. Apart from Jansen and Rabada, the bowling attack is more or less the same and that is a worrying sign before a big tournament. But that is for another day. Today belongs to Pakistan and their record run chase. They will celebrate this victory and come back to face New Zealand on Friday for the trophy. That's all from us today. Until next time, goodbye and stay safe..
Mohammad Rizwan: Everyone knows cricket is by chance. Thanks to the Almighty for helping us with the record chase. I thought we could keep them to 300 but with the way Klaasen played, he took them to 350. When we finished our bowling and were going back, couple of the guys reminded us that we have chased such totals before and that motivated us. I am getting angry (with the misfields) because the players have told me to show emotions. Our fielding has to improve with the Champions Trophy coming up.
Temba Bavuma: Getting to 350 you back yourselves. We were confident at the start of the innings, but we didn't start well, picked up a couple of wickets but never put them under pressure. It stayed a good wicket. Little bit of swing, nothing too extreme, it is going to be tough work for the bowlers if these are the wickets (in the Champions Trophy) we will be playing, nothing for the spinners. Picking wickets is important, but (bowlers) making sure batters are scoring off good balls, then it is the middle phase where the game happens. Yeah, hitting the ball well, nice to spend time in the middle, I batted this long last in the Test series versus Pakistan, so good to dust off the cobwebs. The responsibility will be on us batters to put up such totals on the board and give our bowlers a chance.
Salman Agha | Player of the Match: It was a good wicket to bat on. We wanted to take the game deep and took it 5 overs at a time. It is just one of those, stuck to my hand. I want to contribute in all three departments and that's why I was able to pull off that catch. It was a good wicket in the first innings, it didn't change much. Hopefully we can put up a total in the final and our bowling attack can defend any score.
22:20 Local Time, 17:20 GMT, 22:50 IST: What a chase! Pakistan are not known for their chasing but this was a pretty well-paced run chase from Rizwan and Salman Agha. The start was important and the two openers - Babar and Fakhar - managed to get them off a flyer. The pair added 50+ in the first 6 overs and though they lost 3 wickets inside 11 overs, the asking rate was well under control. What that start did was it allowed Rizwan and Agha to get themselves in before stepping on the accelerator.
The duo took their time but always kept the scoreboard moving; Rizwan was the accumulator while Agha was the aggressor, but once they were in then it was boundaries flowing from both ends and they reached their respective hundreds. South Africa had no answers to the record partnership. Every bowler tried, Mulder picked up a couple of wickets early on, but that was all the joy they had. It seemed Rizwan and Agha will see them over the line, Ngidi broke the 260-run stand but it was too late for South Africa. Hang around for the presentations..