Pakistan 236 for 7 (Farhat 93, Misbah 80) beat South Africa 234 for 9 (De Villiers 75, Miller 67, Ajmal 3-42) by three wickets
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Hold a mirror up to Pakistan's match-winning innings at Kingsmead and
you will see South Africa's, minus one major crack. Both sides lost
early wickets before being anchored by a sizeable partnership, and Misbah-ul-Haq and Imran Farhat's 153-run stand made the ultimate difference.
Misbah scored his second half-century in the series and Farhat
celebrated his return to the side with a well-paced knock. Farhat fell
with only nine runs to get and by then he had done enough to negate
South Africa's attack. On the whole, they were too generous in the
extras department and lacked the same bite Pakistan had shown in the
Powerplays.
Pakistan got first use of a pitch South Africa were worried would be too
dry; they ordered it to be juiced up on the eve of the match. But the
surface could not be credited for the top-order collapse as much as the
potency of Pakistan's opening bowlers. Mohammed Irfan stunned South
Africa with the first two deliveries of the match. He had Hashim Amla
caught behind and removed Colin Ingram with a yorker.
Graeme Smith joined the procession when Junaid Khan bowled him off a
full toss bowling on leg stump. Junaid plucked the fourth when Farhaan
Behardien inside-edged through to Kamran Akmal and South Africa were
reeling at 38 for 4.
In that mess, lay an opportunity for David Miller to make an impact and
he almost let it go, while he was dropped on 9. Pakistan paid for that
mistake as Miller taunted them with some streaky shots. He edged to
third man twice and survived an lbw review off Saeed Ajmal. But, he was
strong on the sweep and reverse-paddle and brought up his third
half-century off 63 balls. AB De Villiers had already reached his fifty
by then. He only scored one boundary in the partnership, as he focussed
on strike-rotation.
De Villiers, however, may have missed a trick by not taking the
Powerplay while Miller was still there. He waited until it was mandatory
by which time Miller was out, trapped in front by Ajmal. He reviewed it
in vain and may have even cost his captain later on. De Villiers was
caught behind sweeping Ajmal and he had no reviews left to question
whether he had gloved the ball or not. The Powerplay, which also
included the wicket of Ryan McLaren, yielded 17 runs and two wickets to
put Pakistan firmly in control.
Robin Peterson helped South Africa go past the 230-mark but with the
knowledge that scores above 250 are rare at the ground, Pakistan would
have been confident. Their start to the chase would have hurt that.
Mohammed Hafeez became the first batsman in international cricket to be
dismissed obstructing the field under the new laws, and Kamran Akmal was
caught magnificently by Miller.
Hafeez was livid with his dismissal, but it was nothing more than
application of the playing conditions. When returning for a second run,
he altered the line of his path slightly to be struck, but it was enough
to be ruled out. De Villiers fell prey to this law in a domestic match
shortly after it was introduced and knew that an appeal would likely
result in a wicket.
Farhat and Akmal showed some aggression but also flirted with danger.
When Farhat spliced a ball back to Dale Steyn, he could have been caught
in the follow-through but Steyn fell hard on his chest. Steyn bowled
two more overs before leaving the field clutching his shoulder. Akmal
didn't have the same luck. When he cut to point, Miller was waiting. The
fortune pendulum went back Pakistan's way when Younis Khan was dropped
by Smith at slip but that did not cost South Africa because played on in
the same over.
At 33 for 3, Farhat and Misbah-ul-Haq had to do what de Villiers and
Miller did for South Africa. They had to employ immense patience in the
face of strangulation from Peterson, who could have had Farhat for 26,
had de Villiers held on to a bottom edge. The pair was content to bide
time. The stand was not risk free, however. Misbah scored the fifth and
sixth boundaries of the innings in the 25th and 26th over, and they were
both streaky - an inside edge and a top-edge.
With nerves rising, de Villiers took a gamble and brought on Ingram -
who has not bowled in international cricket - for some part-time leg
spin. Misbah smashed him for two sixes down the ground with a four
sandwiched in between. The over cost 17 runs and was the most expensive
of the innings but that was not the only reason it was notable. It
brought the required-rate down to under six and took the pressure off
Pakistan considerably.
Another boundary was not scored for three overs but the body language
had changed. South Africa were desperate, Pakistan hopeful, and Misbah
sensed a century. He played a selection of stylish strokes, a majority
of them in his preferred straight area. He was the favourite of the two
in-batsmen to register three-figures but top-edged Peterson to Behardien
at midwicket.
When Shahid Afridi boomed briefly and then went bust, the path was clear
for Farhat to finish the job. The shot that defined his innings was a
six over Steyn's head when he cleared his front leg and swatted the ball
over the boundary. That took him into the 90s and that was when the
excitement got to him.
In his haste to bring up a milestone, Farhat tried to clear the in-field
but was caught by Berhardien who chased it down from cover. By then,
Pakistan needed runs in single-figures and even though Wahab Riaz was
run out trying to get them, Ajmal and Shoaib Malik finished it off. The
series will be decided on Sunday in Benoni where South Africa could find
themselves without Steyn and Smith, who has an ankle problem.
Firdose Moonda is ESPNcricinfo's South Africa correspondent
Feeds: Firdose Moonda
© ESPN EMEA Ltd.
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