Chris Morris took two wickets on his one-day international debut and Ryan McLaren a career-best four for 19 as South Africa returned to winning ways in the Champions Trophy with a 67-run success over Pakistan at Edgbaston.
Pakistan, set 235 to win, finished on 167 all out as South Africa made light of the absence of fast bowlers Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel in winning with five overs to spare.
Man-of-the-match Hashim Amla made 81 – after being dropped before he reached double figures – and that was the cornerstone of South Africa’s 234 for nine, a total the Proteas had no trouble in defending.
“Not many teams would have been able to get 234 against that bowling attack like we did,” said South Africa captain AB de Villiers.
Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq, who top-scored for his side with 55, lamented the team’s batting. “We needed four-and-a-half an over but we could not rotate (the strike) in the middle. That score you could have chased down.”
Misbah, who made a career-best 96 not out against the West Indies, completed a 69-ball fifty with a straight six off left-arm spinner Robin Peterson.
Both Pakistan and South Africa needed to win this day/night fixture after losing their opening Group B matches to the West Indies and India, respectively.
But defeat left Pakistan’s hopes of a semi-final spot hanging by a thread. Pakistan can only progress if West Indies win both their remaining games and they themselves defeat India in their last group match on Saturday.
But that again does not guarantee a spot as three teams will be with one win each and net run rate will be applied to break the deadlock. If any of the results go the other way, Pakistan are out.
The match was always set to hinge on whether Pakistan, bowled out for just 170 by the West Indies, could make a winning score against the Proteas.
Their chase stalled from the outset when Morris, a late call-up to the squad after Morkel was ruled out, produced a new-ball burst of two wickets for 10 runs in 19 balls. T
he 26-year-old Highveld Lions seamer, struck with his fifth ball when he knocked over left-hander Imran Farhat’s off stump.
Morris, who’d previously played two Twenty20 internationals, then saw Mohammad Hafeez fail to get over the top of a bouncer and hole out to square leg.
By the time McLaren took two wickets in an over, Pakistan were 134 for six off 39 overs. It came during a spell of four for five in 11 balls.
Afterwards Misbah admitted his side’s batsmen were “totally lost” after mis-firing again against the Proteas.
Having lost their Champions Trophy opener to West Indies on the back of 170 all out, they were dismissed for 167 by South Africa.
Having bowled impressively to keep their opponents to 234 for nine, they seemingly mis-judged their chase completely, letting the run-rate spiral out of control before losing a flurry of wickets attempting to rectify the situation.
“The positive was the bowling, really we bowled very well, and the fielding is really improving, but as a batting unit you can say it’s totally lost,” Misbah said.
“It’s the application of the batsmen. They are not applying themselves. It has been a really disappointing two games because the team could not score more than 170 on what looks like an Asian pitch. “It is not working. The responsibility is with the players.”
Pakistan enjoyed the raucous support of a one-sided 24,000 crowd at Edgbaston, but as they surrendered late in the day there was a smattering of boos to be heard. But Misbah was phlegmatic in the face of such criticism.
“Supporters are like that. This is how things are,” he said. “When you perform well everybody appreciates you; when you do this sort of performance they have the right (to boo).”
Great start: Seamer Chris Morris (centre) made a superb one-day debut for South Africa by claiming the key wickets of opener Imran Farhat and No3 Mohammad Hafeez.
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