Date:30/10/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/10/30/stories/2007103057202100.htm

Sport

South Africa wins one-day series

And spoils Shoaib Akhtar’s comeback match

— PHOTO: AFP

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED: South African captain Graeme Smith holds the trophy after winning the One-Day International series against Pakistan in Lahore on Monday.

LAHORE: South Africa spoiled Pakistan paceman Shoaib Akhtar’s comeback match on Monday with a stunning 14-run victory in the fifth and final limited-overs game to clinch the series 3-2.

Pakistan was coasting along well at 199 for four in the 41st over before it lost the last six wickets for 20 runs in 36 deliveries to get dismissed for 219 in 46.3 overs.

Akhtar took four for 43 to restrict South Africa to 233 for nine off 50 overs with Jacques Kallis scoring a fighting 86 and Herschelle Gibbs making a fine 54.

“It was an unbelievable finish,” said South Africa captain Graeme Smith, whose team also defeated Pakistan 1-0 in the Test series earlier this month.

“When I walked in for fielding, I knew we could defend 233 because the wicket was slow and every time you tried to push the scoring you lost the wicket,” he added.

Valuable stand

Younis Khan (58) and Mohammad Yousuf (53) shared a valuable 106-run partnership off 134 balls before Pakistan stuttered in its run chase with Albie Morkel grabbing four wickets for 44 and man of the match Makhaya Ntini taking four for 61.

Younis Khan and Yousuf departed in the space of 19 deliveries that opened Pakistan’s suspect lower order in front of Morkel and Ntini.

Captain Shoaib Malik was clean bowled by Morkel for 23 in the 41st over and Misbah-ul-Haq was brilliantly caught by Jean-Paul Duminy off Ntini.

“Had we played all our overs we could have won it,” Malik said.

“We controlled 90 per cent of the match, but we simply could not finish it and lost too many wickets,” he added.

A.B. de Villiers took a brilliant running catch to dismiss dangerman Shahid Afridi and Pakistan lost its last two wickets on the same total of 219 to leave around 28,000 home team supporters stunned.

“We held onto some incredible catches under pressure and the young boys really held their nerves,” Smith said.

Earlier, Akhtar — playing his first game after serving a ban of 13 international matches — halted South Africa with three wickets in his last three overs that included the prized wicket of top-scorer Kallis.

Kallis should have been dismissed on two but wicketkeeper Akmal spilled a regulation catch in Akhtar’s second over. Akhtar had to wait until the 49th over when Malik took a brilliant running catch in the fast bowler’s return spell to end Kallis’s 130-ball innings.

Fighting innings

Kallis’s fighting innings included four boundaries and a straight six, but none of the lower middle-order could accelerate in front of Pakistan’s disciplined bowling.

South Africa had a bumpy start after it won the toss and elected to bat first. Akhtar clipped the off-stump of captain Graeme Smith off the first delivery the South African captain faced off the express bowler, and had Akmal not dropped the catch off Kallis it could have been 13 for two. Herschelle Gibbs (54) dominated the 80-run stand off 112 balls with Kallis and hit 10 boundaries in his half-century before Pakistan struck through its leading wicket-taker in the series, the unheralded medium-fast Rao Iftikhar (three for 45).

Gibbs, who faced 61 balls, tried to play across the line and Iftikhar knocked back the middle stump before Duminy (44) and Kallis shared another 75-run partnership off 108 balls.

Iftikhar hit back hard in his return spell and added two more scalps to raise his tally of wickets to 12 in the five-match series. — AP

Scoreboard

South Africa: H. Gibbs b Iftikhar 54, G. Smith b Akhtar 0, J. Kallis c Malik b Akhtar 86, A.B. de Villiers c Nazir b Malik 17, J. Duminy c Akmal b Iftikhar 44, M. Boucher c Malik b Akhtar 5, S. Pollock c Tanvir b Iftikhar 2, A. Morkel b Akhtar 5, J. Botha b Tanvir 0, A. Nel (not out) 3, M. Ntini (not out) 3; Extras (lb-4, w-6, nb-4): 14; Total (for nine wkts. in 50 overs): 233.

Fall of wickets: 1-7, 2-87, 3-119, 4-194, 5-202, 6-205, 7-226, 8-226, 9-230.

Pakistan bowling: Akhtar 9-0-43-4, Tanvir 6-0-38-1, Iftikhar 10-0-45-3, Afridi 10-0-44-0, Rehman 10-0-36-0, Malik 5-0-23-1.

Pakistan: I. Nazir c Boucher b Ntini 17, K. Akmal b Ntini 24, Younis c Morkel b Pollock 58, Mohd. Yousuf c Boucher b Duminy 53, S. Malik b Morkel 23, Misbah c Duminy b Ntini 19, S. Afridi c de Villiers b Ntini 9, S. Tanvir lbw b Morkel 0, A. Rehman (not out) 7, Rao Iftikhar c Boucher b Morkel 0, S. Akhtar c Nel b Morkel 0; Extras (lb-2, w-7): 9; Total (in 46.3 overs): 219.

Fall of wickets: 1-22, 2-43, 3-149, 4-160, 5-199, 6-209, 7-209, 8-219, 9-219.

South Africa bowling: Pollock 9-0-34-1, Ntini 9-0-61-4, Nel 10-1-32-0, Morkel 8.3-0-44-4, Kallis 3-0-15-0, Botha 6-0-25-0, Duminy 1-0-6-1.