All posts by csb10.top

Pakistan have recalled Umar Akmal to their T20 squad to face world champions West Indies in three matches in Dubai and Abu Dhabi from September 23.Akmal last played international cricket at the World T20 in March and was left out of the training camp in May, ahead of the tour of England, on disciplinary grounds. He was one of two players that former coach Waqar Younis felt should go back to domestic cricket and re-earn his place in the Pakistan side. In this season’s National T20 Cup, Akmal hit a career-best unbeaten 115 that also included him hitting experienced medium-pacer Yasir Arafat for 34 runs in one over.

Changes in the squad

In: Umar Akmal, Rumman Raees, Saad Nasim
Out: Amad Butt

It is learnt that Akmal was cleared for Pakistan duty after he had told Shaharyar Khan, the PCB chairman, at a one-on-one meeting last month that there would not be any further issues with regard to his conduct.”We always thought that Umar deserved a place in the T20 squad and he indeed is in very good form,” Tauseef Ahmed, a member of Pakistan’s selection committee, told ESPNcricinfo. “We really don’t need to go back into past [and think about] why he was dropped. We got the required clearance from PCB before picking him. He is a good batsman and there is always a place for him in the squad.”Fast bowler Mohammad Irfan had picked up hamstring and calf injuries on the tour of England in the only match he played and has been left out. Mohammad Hafeez was also out of consideration due to injury. Amad Butt, the 21-year old uncapped seamer, was the only player dropped from the squad that played England.Left-arm seamer Rumman Raees, who was named to play the World T20 but was later injured, and batting allrounder Saad Nasim, who has not played for Pakistan in over a year, have found a place in the 15-member squad.Nasim was picked for tactical reasons. “We want to take a chance with a legspinner against West Indies,” Ahmed said. “And observing him in the national circuit, I think he can give us some variety as he is also a solid batsman.”Raees has been earmarked as a future prospect. “Rumman on other hand is booming fast bowler and we want to keep him on line with the national squad,” Ahmed said. “He had been outstanding at the domestic level and we want him to be in contention.”Pakistan’s new T20 captain Sarfraz Ahmed had led them to one of their most emphatic victories in the format, against England on Wednesday, to round off the tour.Pakistan squad: Sarfraz Ahmed (capt), Khalid Latif, Sharjeel Khan, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Rizwan, Babar Azam, Mohammad Nawaz, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Amir, Wahab Riaz, Hasan Ali, Sohail Tanvir, Rumman Raees, Umar Akmal, Saad Nasim

India captain MS Dhoni said he had guessed correctly that the final delivery from Dwayne Bravo would be a slower ball but his execution of the shot let him down. With two runs needed off one ball, Dhoni was caught at short third man and West Indies won the first T20 international by the narrowest of margins.Dhoni said his team should be commended for their valiant chase in the highest-scoring T20 game ever. “I feel there were plenty of positives in this game because the way we chased down 245 runs, apart from the last ball,” he said after the match. “I felt we were totally in the game. Even the last ball, the thinking was right, the execution was wrong.”A cat-and-mouse game that had been developing over the course of the final six balls reached a new level as Bravo engaged in several discussions, stalling for several minutes ahead of the last ball, with two required by Dhoni to secure what would have been a record chase. Even though Dhoni said he knew what was going to be sent down, he praised Bravo’s skills in such a pressure moment.”When it comes to Bravo, I feel in the current scenario he’s among the best when it comes to the death bowling,” Dhoni said. “The amount of experience that he has really counts so you always know if he’s bowling it’s tough. What then becomes important is how we’re executing.”You have to really guess what he’s looking to bowl and according to that you play your shots. So if you guess the bowler well and execute well, you’ll end up winning. Rather than thinking who is bowling, what’s important is to think what his strength is and where he’ll look to pitch the next delivery.”Despite India conceding the third highest total in a T20I, Dhoni praised his bowlers for their effort to reel West Indies back in after Johnson Charles and Evin Lewis added 126 for the first wicket in 9.3 overs. By the end of the 11th over – a 32-run sequence in which Lewis struck the first five legal deliveries from Stuart Binny for six before mis-hitting a full toss – West Indies were 164 for 1.Dhoni said he thought West Indies were on track for 270 or more before R Ashwin started to shift momentum with a four-run 12th over, bowling with the breeze at his back.The wind from the pavilion end helped the spinners throughout the rest of the innings, and Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja conceded just 18 runs in the 12th, 14th and 16th overs. India’s pace bowlers also began nailing their yorkers and the result was just 40 runs off the final four overs to keep West Indies to 245.MS Dhoni said his bowlers did well to pull West Indies back to 245, after they had looked like getting 270•BCCI

“I felt the way the boys performed overall was very good,” Dhoni said. “I was very happy how we brought the opposition down when it came to the last eight overs. That really matters because that is something where we have struggled quite consistently but it was a good exposure to our bowlers and they finished up well to restrict them to 245.”Dhoni also praised the batting efforts of KL Rahul, who struck his maiden T20I century in just his fourth match. Rahul ended 110 not out off 51 balls, having missed the fastest T20I ton by two deliveries, taking 46 balls to reach three figures.”He has been very consistent,” Dhoni said. “I feel that is a strength of Rahul also, compact player but at the same time unorthodox shots. He plays all over the ground, over covers, mid off, mid on. So a complete cricketer. Of course there’s a long way to go for him but the way he has played in the last six months, it’s very encouraging to see him bat.”As for the experience of playing in Florida in front of a heavily partisan Indian diaspora, Dhoni joked that “even if we’re playing in Bermuda Triangle, they’ll be there”. He also praised the efforts put in by the groundstaff at the Central Broward Regional Park in Lauderhill.”The facility is as good as anywhere else,” Dhoni said. “The ground itself is up to international standard. You can’t score 500 runs on a bad wicket, so fantastic wicket. The practice wickets were fantastic. When it comes to the stadium, it’s not a big stadium. The moment I say stadium I mean the number of fans it can house. I think it’s close to 15,000. So overall looking at everything as a complete package, I think it was fantastic. We had fun.”When it comes to the Indian fans, it’s a pleasure playing in front of them. They follow us everywhere wherever we are playing. So it’s a first time we are playing in the USA but not to forget we have a big Indian community out here so thanks to them for coming and watching the game.”

When South Africa’s A squad embarks on tours of Zimbabwe and Australia, the transfer of knowledge between players will be as important as catching the national selectors’ eyes. The group is a made up of players with international experience and those on the fringes of higher honours, and captain Stephen Cook hopes they will spur each other on.”It’s a great squad, we’ve got a lovely balance,” Cook said at the team’s training camp in Pretoria. “These guys are all fantastic players in their own right, and I am sure we will all learn from one another.”An experienced leader in franchise cricket, Cook takes charge of the A side with an ambition to cement his own place in the Test team. He made his debut in the fourth Test against England in Centurion, South Africa’s last Test in the 2015-16 summer, and scored a century. Cook was one of the few bright spots in an otherwise bleak period for the side, and he will be one of the players they will rely on as they seek to re-start their climb up the rankings.Despite having been around for a long time – Cook has been playing in the domestic set-up for 16 years – he is still looking to develop, this time under Malibongwe Maketa, a coach he has not worked with before. Maketa, the Warriors coach, has been put in charge of the A side and Cook is interested in his insights. “It’s good to get fresh ideas, some fresh thinking from someone who coaches against you and analyses you in a different way to what your coach does,” he said. “Everyone can learn from each other and that makes for a healthy set-up.”The word health has not been associated with South African cricket over the last year, with severe criticism of the structures at both national and domestic level, so to hear someone use it is refreshing. Cook believes there is strong competition as players hope to break into the national side. “Guys here are putting up their hands to say, ‘Hey I want to make that Proteas side in whatever format is required,'” he said. “The guys are all up for it, they have all trained fantastically, our work ethic has been great.”One area where they cannot be faulted – and Cook singled it out – is conditioning, even in mid-winter. “Everyone is fit. In previous years, I have seen criticism levelled that the guys arrive unfit. This year, guys are all in tip-top shape and rearing to go which shows a good attitude,” he said. “That’s the most important thing. If you can control your attitude, that takes care of a lot of the performance.”A central figure in the fit-again stakes is Vernon Philander, who missed most of the previous season after tearing ankle ligaments during warm-ups ahead of AB de Villiers’ 100th Test against India in Bangalore. Philander made a comeback towards the end of the season and is now aiming to reclaim his place in the Test side to face New Zealand in August. He is also hoping to inspire the younger generation.”As much as it’s for me to get back, it’s also to share my knowledge with these guys out here,” Philander said. “As long as I can help the younger ones coming through as well, I think I’ve played my part in South African cricket.”Someone like Sisanda Magala, a fast-bowling allrounder from the Eastern Cape, could benefit from having Philander around. Magala was the second highest wicket-taker for Warriors in the first-class competition and 13th overall with 27 wickets at 27.00, and is making his debut for the A side. “I am very excited. It’s my first time going overseas and my first time playing for South Africa A, so there’s definitely lots of emotions going around,” Magala said. “I will try and be like a sponge and absorb as much as I can, learn from them, because they have been at this level for a long time.”Another hopeful is Cobras’ four-day captain, Omphile Ramela, who has emerged as a promising top-order batsman. At 28, Ramela, who finished ninth on the first-class run charts with 592 runs at 42.28, seems to be entering his prime, and sees the A tour as taking him a little closer to the South African side. “It’s a stepping stone. I am trying to get closer to playing for the Proteas,” Ramela said. “These tours are important. It’s important that we keep learning as players. I am still learning as a player, but I will be trying to help where I can.”South Africa play two four-day matches in Zimbabwe, two in Australia, and then a quadrangular 50-over tournament in Australia, in which Wayne Parnell will take over from Cook as captain.

Cricket Australia’s experiment with a youth team in the Matador Cup will continue this summer, with the Cricket Australia XI confirmed as a seventh one-day team for 2016-17.The CA XI were included alongside the six states in the 2015-16 tournament and the squad was made up of young players who had missed out on selection in their respective state one-day squads.Although they suffered some extremely heavy losses and finished last on the Matador Cup table, they also provided one upset by beating Tasmania by three runs.CA XI squad members included Queensland legspinner Mitch Swepson, who has been chosen in the Australia A squad for a series of upcoming winter matches.”We said initially that we were prepared to back this for a two-year trial and we are sticking to that for the second season as we felt that there were significantly positive results for Australian Cricket,” CA’s executive general manager of team performance, Pat Howard, said.”With the postponement of the Test tour [to Bangladesh] last October, the CA XI came up against very strong state sides, which was wonderful for the competition but was also a tough introduction for the young group. It is important we continue to review the concept again this season, as there were many positives.”

Abahani Limited thumped Victoria Sporting Club by six wickets in a game marred by Suhrawadi Shuvo’s neck injury that put him in hospital, though he was out of danger according to doctors.Shuvo was batting on 21 in the 25th over when Taskin Ahmed’s bouncer struck him, after which he fell at his crease. The Abahani players rushed to him, before the physios and doctors carried him back to the dressing room, following which he was taken to Apollo Hospital.Victoria, meanwhile, stumbled and they were ultimately bowled out for 139 runs in 36.2 overs. Their in-form top and middle-order crumbled as they were reduced to 86 for 5 in the 19th over. Several batsmen got starts but none made it past Mominul Haque’s 23, the highest score of the innings.Taskin (3 for 30) and left-arm spinners Shakib Al Hasan (3 for 28) and Saqlain Sajib (3 for 38) took three wickets each.Tamim Iqbal struck five fours and a six during his 33 to set up Abahani’s chase, which was interrupted by two rain breaks. Liton Das (18), Shakib (9) and Nazmul Hossain Shanto (22) all fell in quick succession, but Dinesh Karthik struck a six and a four to finish the game with more than 20 overs to spare. He remained unbeaten on 32 off 48 balls while Mosaddek Hossain was unbeaten on 18 off 10 balls.Chaturanga de Silva took two wickets, which strengthened the Sri Lankan left-arm spinner’s position at top of the bowling charts, with 30 wickets.Legends of Rupganj consolidated their top spot in the Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League with a comfortable five-wicket win over Prime Bank Cricket Club at the BKSP-3 ground. The result meant that defending champions Prime Bank were out of the title race.Nahidul Islam (64*) steered Rupganj’s chase after Pawan Negi’s 2 for 30 limited Prime Bank to 222 for 8. Having walked out to bat at No.6 with Rupganj on 127 for 4, Islam added 77 runs for the fifth wicket with Asif Ahmed, who contributed 51 off 89 balls. Mohammad Mithun pitched in with a half-century of his own while Soumya Sarkar made 47 off 46 balls, after opener Junaid Siddique was trapped lbw by Shuvagata Hom in the first over.Rupganj maintained their spotless record in the Super League by completing the chase with 19 balls to spare. Having been sent in, Prime Bank lost Mehedi Maruf early, but Unmukt Chand and Hom briefly steadied their side with thirties each. Nurul Hasan then pressed on to hit 75 off 96 balls, his third List A half-century, but Prime Bank managed only 29 for 3 in the last five overs of their innings.Raqibul Hasan guided Prime Doleshwar Sporting Club to a crucial seven-wicket win over Mohammedan Sporting Club at the Fatullah Cricket Stadium. Doleshwar remained in the race for the title, but Mohammedan, having lost their last two Super League games as well, were out of it.Batting first, Mohammedan were bowled out for 213 runs in 49 overs. They began shakily and lost both openers Ezaz Ahmed and Hamidul Islam for 15 inside eight overs, before Shykat Ali and Mushfiqur Rahim added 58 runs for the third wicket. While Mushfiqur was dismissed for 20, Shykat went on to make a half-century. Mohammedan, however, lost regular wickets and struggled to push on in the slog overs.Sunzamul Islam, Rejaul Karim, Nasir Hossain and Rahatul Ferdous took two wickets each for Doleshwar. Opener Imtiaz Hossain (19) departed early in the chase, but Raqibul and Rony Talukdar added 73 runs for the second wicket, before Faisal Hossain had Talukdar caught behind for 28.Sachin Baby contributed only 17 but Raqibul and Nasir Hossain ensured there were no further hiccups, with their unbroken 79-run stand for the fourth wicket. Raqibul hit 86 off 127 balls with five fours and a six, while Nasir made a 40-ball 52 that included four fours and two sixes.

Aamir Kaleem’s measured half-century helped Oman escape early danger against Nigeria to set up a thumping 181-run win at St Clement. Kaleem finished unbeaten on 78 and teamed with captain Ajay Lalcheta for a vital 101-run sixth-wicket partnership taking their side out of trouble from 116 for 5 after 37 overs to a comfortable 220 for 6 after being inserted to bat. Lalcheta and Rajeshkumar Ranpura then took four wickets each to skittle Nigeria out for 39.Nigeria initially got off to a brilliant start in the field as Zeeshan Maqsood was beaten for pace by Okpe Issac for 13. Tight pressure in the circle resulted in the run-out of Khawar Ali for 14 in the 13th over to make it 35 for 2, after Vaibhav Wategaonkar turned down Khawar’s call for a sharp run to cover. Three balls later, Wategaonkar chased a wide ball to edge behind for 3 off Oluseye Olympio.Jatinder Singh, who struggled after being dropped at midwicket on nought, finally succumbed to offspinner Sesan Adedeji for 9, slicing a drive to point to make it 63 for 4 in the 24th. Through 31 overs, Nigeria continued to hold Oman in check at 88 for 4 and continued to keep six men in the circle.But Oman’s revival began in the 32nd when Kaleem took on Adedeji for a four over cover before slashing another over backward point two balls later. Kaleem teamed with Noorul Riaz, who made a crucial 39 off 81 on his Oman debut, for a 53-run stand before the latter missed a flick playing across to medium-pacer Leke Oyede.Man-of-the-Match Lalcheta took advantage of the vast square boundaries at FB Fields, pushing hard for twos and threes with Kaleem, on his way to making 44 off 35 balls before he was run out during a hesitation for a second run in the final over. Kaleem brought up his 50 off 61 balls with a single to mid-off in the 44th off Nigeria captain Kunle Adegbola but Nigeria had a chance to curtail the sixth-wicket partnership.In the 46th and 47th overs, Kaleem and Lalcheta offered three chances in the space of eight balls, none of which were claimed as Nigeria’s previously sharp fielding flagged badly late in the innings. Kaleem was on 56 and the score 171 when he mistimed a lofted drive but the fielder running in from cover misjudged the chance. Two balls later, Kaleem rubbed salt into the wound, taking advantage of the short straight boundaries to drive Adegbola’s offspin over mid-off for six.In the following over, against medium-pacer Chimezie Onwuzulike, Lalcheta was on 23 when he sent a much simpler chance straight to Ademola Onikoyi at mid-on, who shelled it on his knees. Four balls later with the score on 188, Onwuzulike was done in again when Kaleem, on 63, was dropped at midwicket off a chest high chance. Aided by the poor fielding, Oman scored 10 or more runs in five of their last six overs to carry strong momentum into the break.Nigeria folded meekly in their chase to a precise spell of swing bowling from Rajeshkumar Ranpura, who wiped out four of the top five during an unbroken 10-over spell with the new ball to claim 4 for 18. After Munis Ansari removed Onikoyi leg before with a full ball in the fourth over for 7, Ranpura claimed a simple return catch off Segun Olayinka for his first wicket before his next two victims – Adegbola and Joshua Ayannaike – edged into the slips cordon. He rounded off his haul by castling Oyede.Lalcheta replaced Ansari in the 12th over and went on to clean up the tail, taking 4 for 7 in 6.5 overs as Nigeria lasted just 23.5 overs with no batsman reaching double-figures. Their final total of 39 was the third-lowest total in the history of the World Cricket League. Only Bhutan’s 31 against Kuwait at Division Eight in 2010 and Mozambique’s 19 all out against Nepal at St Saviour during Division Five in Jersey in 2008, a game famous for Mahaboob Alam claiming all 10 wickets, are worse.In a rain-reduced game at St Saviour, Jersey claimed their first win by 102 runs over Vanuatu. With the game shortened to 37 overs a side after persistent showers throughout the morning, Vanuatu sent Jersey in and held them to 200 for 9. Man-of-the-Match Nat Watkins produced partnerships of 49, 48 and 46 runs with Peter Gough, Ben Stevens and Jonty Jenner respectively before he was fifth man out for a top score of 65 off 98 balls.Vanuatu captain Andrew Mansale took four wickets for the second day in a row to tie down the Jersey middle order from producing a late surge, but by that stage the home side had more than enough runs to defend. Vanuatu still held outside hope of chasing down the target after reaching 76 for 2 after 20 overs, but Watkins sparked a collapse of 8 for 22 runs when he teased Joshua Rasu into an ambitious hoick and bowled the opener for 43.Two overs after Rasu fell, Mansale played around a straight ball for 22 before Watkins rounded off his haul of 3 for 22 by drawing Ronald Tari out of his crease with a flighted ball for the first of two stumpings by Jake Dunford. Ben Stevens and Ben Kynman ripped through the Vanuatu lower order to claim figures of 3 for 21 and 2 for 19 respectively as the Pacific islanders were bundled out for 98 in 30.1 overs.Guernsey maintained a perfect start, trampling Tanzania by eight wickets at St Martin. In another match shortened by weather, Tanzania were sent in to bat at the toss after the match was reduced to 42 overs a side. Three wickets with the new ball from Oliver Newey were followed by three more from left-arm spinner Max Ellis as Tanzania crumbled to 58 for 8 and were eventually bowled out in the last over for 108.Opener Matthew Stokes top-scored for the second day in a row, ending unbeaten on 44 in Guernsey’s chase. Despite the low target, Guernsey were made to work hard and reached the target in the 27th over.Guernsey, Nigeria, Vanuatu and Tanzania all have Monday off while Jersey and Oman will replay their rained out fixture from Saturday at St Saviour beginning at 11 am.

Naseem Shah and Abrar Ahmed inflicted a late collapse on South Africa to bowl them out for an under-par 263 in the opening ODI in Faisalabad.On a dry, flat batting surface, it allowed Pakistan to control the tempo of the chase, one in which they further tightened their grip with an 87-run opening stand in the first 15 overs. South Africa battled hard through the middle overs to drag the hosts back, but Mohammad Rizwan, freshly stripped of the ODI captaincy, shepherded his side calmly through the middle overs with 55, while Salman Agha chipped in with a half-century of his own.But it wasn’t without a dramatic late stumble that almost derailed Pakistan right at the death, needing a late Mohammad Nawaz six to see Pakistan through to a final-over two-wicket win that should have been more comfortable than it ultimately was.Pakistan appeared to have complicated a chase that – at the outset – looked especially straightforward. With 12 overs to go, Pakistan needed just 69 with seven wickets in hand and their two most reliable batters, Rizwan and Agha, having compiled a 91-run partnership. But Corbin Bosch, Pakistan’s tormentor-in-chief this series, struck when Rizwan flicked straight to deep backward square, and Pakistan suddenly began to find run-scoring hard.Salman Agha and Mohammad Rizwan added 91 together•Associated Press

However, they retained wickets as Hussain Talat and Agha kept counting the runs down, albeit a little more conservatively than Pakistan might have wished. The upshot, however, was a run-a-ball 45-run stand that took Pakistan to less than 30 runs away from a series lead. But when Talat misjudged a slower ball and looped one to mid-off, George Linde took a stunning catch diving forward, and threw the ball and the game back up into jeopardy.Linde would come back into the attack, ball turning square by this stage, and send back Hasan Nawaz, who saw fit to come down the crease against the turning ball and attempt a straight slog, already halfway down the crease when he was stumped. Pakistan’s plight became even drearier when, 12 runs shy, Agha holed out to Donovan Ferreira, who covered a huge chunk of the Iqbal Stadium before taking a catch that dismissed Pakistan’s anchor.With the equation suddenly ten in seven, it was thanks to a straight hit from Nawaz down the ground of the final ball of the 49th that brought the game irrevocably in Pakistan’s control. There was time enough for Nawaz to be dismissed with the scores level, with Pakistan limping over the finish line – quite literally – when one thudded into Naseem’s pads as they scuttled through for a legbye. It seemed an apt metaphor for the ultimate unconvincing manner of Pakistan’s win.It needed to be nothing like that, especially with Fakhar Zaman and Saim Ayub batting. The duo matched South Africa’s opening pair in the venom of their opening stand, finding boundaries and sixes in the first 15 that took them to well beyond the required rate. It was only a half-hour of pressure from South Africa’s spinners, Bjorn Fortuin and Ferreira, that turned a cakewalk into a contest.On ODI debut, Donovan Ferreira dismissed both Pakistan openers•Associated Press

Ferriera struck first with an arm ball that skidded into Ayub as he shaped for a cut. He would double up two overs later as Fakhar mistimed a slog that found long-on before Fortuin struck the dagger into Faisalabad’s hearts. With Babar Azam crawling along to 7, he got one to skid along the angle and trap him plumb in front, both bowler and batter barely waiting for the umpire’s decision.But Pakistan’s stalwarts of late salvaged the situation and steered Pakistan back on course. In their slightly humdrum yet dependable way, Rizwan and Agha kept turning the strike over and taking Pakistan closer to South Africa’s total. Most crucially, they avoided the fate of South Africa in the middle overs, denying the visitors the constant flurry of wickets that had characterised the first innings and hamstrung South Africa.This series has seen six captains across the two sides, and yet, it has been the home skipper who has won the toss each time. After winning their sixth on the trot, Pakistan elected to chase. Through the debutant Lhuan-dre Pretorius and the returning Quinton de Kock, the visitors may have given Pakistan reason to regret that decision with a near-flawless start.They took on Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem early and refused to let the spin of Agha or Abrar settle either. Pretorius, who took much of the early impetus, danced down the ground to drive Agha over cover in the innings’ eighth over, while de Kock smashed Abrar over long-off to bring up the 50-run stand.By the end of his first three overs, Agha had leaked 30, and Shaheen was forced to turn to Ayub, and that is where Pakistan began to regain some control. South Africa continued to tick along at a fair clip as Pretorius completed a 48-ball 50, but Pakistan starved him of the strike for the next few overs. Even so, South Africa had got to 98 in the 16th over before Pretorius tried to carve Ayub through the offside, only for Nawaz to complete a sharp catch diving to his weaker right side.For the moment, though, South Africa were not to be slowed down by one bump. Tony de Zorzi made his intentions clear by creaming Nawaz over the top for a six so huge it flew out of Iqbal Stadium and required a replacement ball. De Kock was milking the spinners and getting a boundary away each over, with one through short fine off Ayub, bringing up his own half-century in his comeback ODI.Abrar Ahmed came back well in his later spells•Getty Images

The reintroduction of Naseem would serve as the first real break on South Africa’s careening sled. He’d copped 19 in his first three, but coming around the wicket to the two left-handers, he conceded just one in his return over, and when Ayub kept things tight at the other end, Naseem struck in the following over.It was the free-flowing de Kock who, cramped for room from the angle, chipped onto the stumps as he tried to guide the ball fine. Ayub struck six balls later to extinguish de Zorzi’s innings in its embryonic stages, and the momentum began to shift.South Africa lacked batting heft lower down the order. Sinethemba Qeshile’s back-to-back boundaries off Shaheen broke the shackles, while captain Matthew Breetzke walloped Abrar for a six and a four as South Africa attempted a relaunch. But Nawaz induced a top edge from Qeshile off the first ball of the next over, and from thereon Pakistan began to punch their way through a brittle South Africa.It was the first of five wickets to fall within 37 runs as Pakistan gutted their way through South Africa. Abrar got rid of Breetzke and trapped Fortuin first ball, almost believing he had a hat-trick when the umpire raised his finger for his third delivery in a row, but on that occasion, an inside edge denied him the honour.Bosch shielded Ngidi from the strike and put on a valuable 41 runs at the very end, but the resigned disappointment on South African faces at the ultimate score they’d posted told the real story. Four hours later, it was clear how just a few more runs might have made all the difference.