South Africa storm into final
Chris Dhambarage reporting
CRICKET: South Africa, not among the favourites before the
start of the International Cricket Council Under 19 World Cup, stormed
into Sunday's final by registering an emphatic 98-run win over the
reigning champions Pakistan in the semifinal fixture worked off at the
Kinrara Oval in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia yesterday.
The junior Proteas bowlers picked up eight wickets at the expense of
67 runs after play resumed on the reserve day because of an evening
heavy shower in the city which disrupted Friday's day/night encounter,
with Pakistan on 86 for 2 after 18.5 overs. The South Africans go into
Sunday's day/night final against India at the Kinrara Oval..
"We are really happy to be in the final having batted and
bowled well against Pakistan. The wicket was really flat yesterday
(Friday) and credit goes to Smuts (58), Rossouw (53) and Vandiar (50)
for giving a great performance with the bat while Adams and Vallie
bolwed extremely well to put Pakistan on the back foot," said South
African captain Wayne Parnell."
"We lost to India in the preliminary round but I think the final is
going to be very exciting. We have got a game plan just as we did
against Pakistan." Pakistan captain Imad Wasim, aiming to score a
hat-trick following their 2004 and 2006 triumphs, was shattered at the
outcome of the semifinal result.
"When we went into the field on Friday, we went with a positive mind
but unfortunately we played badly and bowled all over. Yes, I am
disappointed. The South Africans were at their best in the last two days
and when they scored 260 runs, I though we had the batsmen to chase the
score. I am disappointed." Using local knowledge and previous experience
as a guide, Pakistan skipper Imad Wassim decided to field on winning the
toss of what turned out to be a two-day game, although South African
captain Wayne Parnell indicated that South Africa would have batted. J.J.
Smuts got off to a good start with Smuts in particular driving fiercely
and placing delicate shots passed the fielders as they took advantage of
the powerplay rule.
After waiting for over two hours, the game finally restarted
yesterday in overcaste conditions at 12.20, and when Amin (22) was
stumped off a wide from Pieter Malan off the first ball of the day at
87-3, and then Asad trapped leg before to Adams four overs later, their
task was always going to be difficult. However, when Shazhad smacked a
six off Matthew Arnold to reach his 50 and followed up by a four off
Vallie in 28th over gave the Pakistanis hope as they kept pace with the
South African run-rate at the same stage but with less wickets in hand.
After a patient beginning, Salah-ud-din (16) then played an
irresponsible shot straight up in the air to give Rossouw an easy catch
off Vallie followed by a similar stroke from Muhammad Rameez (4) to
Hendricks off Vallie and Pakistan's hopes were all but buried. Then,
when Wasim drove a catch to Vandiar (13) off S.A. Englebrecht's second
ball at 1459, the result was academic, although Azhar Attari and Adil
Raza made South Africa wait until the 40th over to secure their victory
by 98 runs to enter the final
SOUTH AFRICA:
P. Malan c Ali Asad b Adil Raza 15
J. Smuts c Usman b Shehzad 58
R. Rossouw c Akmal b Shehzad 53
J. Vandiar c Attari b Rameez 50
M. Vallie lbw b Wasim 9
W. Parnell c Amin b Wasim 17
R. Adams c Shahzad b Wasim 1
R. Hendricks not out 27
S. Engelbrecht b Rameeez 8
B. Barnes not out 1
EXTRAS (lb3, w12, nb6) 21
TOTAL (for eight wickets) 260
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-35 (Malan), 2-126 (Smuts), 3-142 (Rossouw), 4-173 (Vallie),
5-219 (Parnell), 6-223 (Adams), 7-226 (Vandiar), 8-255 (Engelbrecht).
BOWLING: Adil Raza 10-0-58-1 (2nb, 5w), Rameez 10-2-48-2 (1nb),
Attari 5-0-33-0 (2nb, 1w), Akmal 7-0-38-0 (nb1),
Wasim 10-0-45-3 (3w), Shehzad 8-0-35-2 (3w).
OVERS: 50
PAKISTAN:
Ahmad Shehzad not out 40
Umar Akmal c Vallie b Parnell 12
Shan Masood b Parnell 0
Umar Amin not out 22
EXTRAS: (b1, w10, nb1) 12
TOTAL (for two wickets) 86
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-17 (Akmal), 2-17 (Masood).
BOWLING: Parnell 9-0-39-2 (w6), Arnold 5-0-28-0 (nb1, w1),
Adams 1-0-7-0 (w1), Malan 3.5-0-11-0 (w2).
OVERS: 18.5 (AFP) |
