South Africa shock Pakistan
Makhaya Ntini stars as South Africa beat Pakistan by 14 runs in one-day international series decider
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Monday, 29, Oct 2007 10:14
South Africa have claimed a 3-2 series victory over Pakistan after winning the final one-day international by 14 runs.
Proteas set the hosts a beatable target of 233-9 off their 50 overs, but a stunned 28,000-strong Lahore crowd watched as their side collapsed, eventually bowled out with three and a half overs remaining.
Albie Morkel and Makhaya Ntini were the heroes for the tourists after claiming figures of 4-61 and 4-44, respectively, while opener Jacques Kallis' 86 provided a strong foundation in their own innings.
Kallis should have been sent back to the pavilion in the match's early stages, but Kamran Akmal dropped an easy catch off the returning Shoaib Akhtar (4-43).
The paceman, back in the side after serving a 13-game ban for striking a team-mate with a bat, eventually claimed Kallis' wicket after an athletic running catch from skipper Shoaib Malik.
And despite Herschelle Gibbs' quickfire 54 off 61 balls, the hosts were still confident going into their own innings.
This mood was reinforced by Younis Khan (58) and Mohammad Yousuf (53) putting on 103 for the third wicket.
But after Younis was caught off Morkel – whose bowling also accounted for Malik – Pakistan's batting order collapsed, handing South Africa the series win.
A disappointed Malik said after the game: "We controlled 90 per cent of the match, but we simply could not finish it and lost too many wickets.
"It all boiled down to poor batting. A win would have been good for the Indian tour. Had we played all our overs we could have won it."
South African skipper Graeme Smith meanwhile said his side had scored an "incredible win".
"We took huge catches and the ball swung in the end and helped us to take those last wickets," he revealed.