ABU DHABI – Lonwabo Tsotsobe and Johan Botha restricted Pakistan to 119 before Colin Ingram and J.P. Duminy revived the chase from a wobbly 26 for three with a 66-run stand to push South Africa to a six-wicket victory in the first of the two Twenty20 games in Abu Dhabi.
Pakistan fought hard with the bowling but the battle was lost by their batsmen.
There was a predictable monotony about the batting. The openers didn’t last long. Umar Akmal flattered to deceive. Shahid Afridi unfurled a couple of violent hits to threaten a revival. Misbah-ul-Haq batted slowly and the lower order collapsed.
With South Africa set a target of only 120, the chase shouldn’t have got so close but they slipped up against Shoaib Akhtar early in the piece.
Loots Bosman crashed one straight to cover point and A.B. de Villiers dragged a pull shot to his stumps as Shoaib picked two wickets in his second over.
And when Graeme Smith was bowled, attempting a cut against Mohammad Hafeez, South Africa were wobbling at 26 for three at 5.1 overs.
Pakistan brought on Saeed Ajmal and Umar Gul and the duo kept the runs down to maintain the pressure. It was set up perfectly for Afridi to come in and strangle the batsmen with his renowned accuracy but he leaked 23 runs from his two overs. (Cricinfo)
