ICC World Cup 2023, PAK vs SA: Pakistan fights back by setting a target of 271 vs SA

Shadab Khan, Saud Shakeel (Pic: AFP)

ICC World Cup 2023 match 26 between Pakistan and South Africa is underway in Dharmshala's HPCA Stadium. Pakistan won the toss and decided to bat first against New Zealand.

Pakistan lost early wickets of their openers Abdullah Shafique and Imam-Ul-Haq for nine runs and 12 runs, respectively. Mohammad Rizwan tried to stabilize Pakistan's inning with captain Babar Azam but later departed for 31 runs. Rizwan reached a personal milestone of completing 2,000 ODI runs for Pakistan when he opened his account with a boundary off fast bowler Marco Jansen.

Marco Jansen had the wickets of both openers under his belt. On the other hand, Gerald Coetzee took the responsibility of not leaking many runs from the other end.

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Babar Azam completed his fifty in Lungi Ngidi's over and led the team from the front. He stabilized the Pakistan's inning when no other batsman was able to shield their wickets against South Africa's bowling department. Later, Tabraiz Shamsi dismissed him for 50 runs and also picked Iftikhar Ahmed's wicket.

After the dismissal of the skipper Shadab Khan and Saud Shakeel were battling Protea's bowlers in the middle. South Africans were showing pure dominance in Pakistan's must win game. They were not letting any Pakistan player settle for too long.

Both Shakeel and Khan defended the ball very well in the middle of the inning and completed their fifty runs stand. Their partnership helped Pakistan to put 200 runs on board. Shakeel and Shadab displayed sensible cricketing shots against South Africa's bowling lineup. Shadab Khan's inning was ended by Gerald Coetzee for 43 runs. After a very long, Coetzee brought South Africa back into the game by striking the wicket of the set batsman at the right time. Shakeel was tricked by Shamsi and lost his wicket in the hands of wicket keeper Quinton de Kock.

Mohammad Nawaz brought 250 runs for Pakistan in style by hitting six to Shamsi. Protea's spinner then went on to take the wicket of Shaheen Shah Afridi and with that registered his fourth wicket for 60 runs in the match. Pakistan registered a total of 271 runs for South Africa to chase down.

Score summary:

Babar Azam 50 (65)

Saud Shakeel 52 (52)

Sahadab Khan 43 (36)

Marco Jansen: Overs bowled (9), runs (43), wickets (3)

Tabraiz Shamsi: Overs bowled (10), runs (60), wickets (4)

Gerald Coetzee: Overs bowled (7), runs (42), wickets (2)