Watch: Shadab Khan tore through South Africa’s middle order in a game-turning over, plucking the wickets of Temba Bavuma and Aiden Markram in the space of three balls to give Pakistan the upper hand in their 2022 T20 World Cup fixture.
Pakistan’s chances of qualifying for the semi-final received a significant boost with their 33-run win via the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method. It brought them third place on the Group 2 points table with a net run-rate of +1.117. Player of the Match Shadab played a significant all-round role in the win: he first hit a 22-ball 52 that powered Pakistan to 185-9, and then returning to turn the game with the ball.
Shadab was pressed into action for the seventh over, with South Africa on 65-2. He found Bavuma’s edge, and wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan held the catch. Until that point, Bavuma looked in fine touch, having raced to 36 off 17.
With rain around the corner – a little drizzle had begun at that point – and despite bowling with a wet ball in hand, Shadab struck again, two balls later. He skidded a ball past Markram’s defences to knock his stumps back. He gave away just two runs off that over. With Mohammad Nawaz also conceding two, South Africa were 69-4 in nine overs when rain stopped play.
As was the case with the India-Bangladesh game yesterday, the DLS calculations kicked in after a point, requiring South Africa to get 73 off five overs in a revised target. Since DLS calculations put significant weight on wickets, Shadab’s strikes turned out to be a game-changer. He conceded 10 off his next over, Pakistan managed to hold things back commendably, eventually leaving South Africa 33 short of the target.
Watch the two Shadab wickets here:
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