‘Chalo bhai ghar ko rawana ho jaao’ – Fans react as South Africa beat Pakistan in thrilling ODI World Cup contest by 1 run

Pakistan and South Africa clashed against each other in the 26th match of the ongoing ODI World Cup 2023 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Friday, October 27. The Proteas delivered a brilliant all-round performance to defeat the Men in Green by 1 wicket in a thrilling match.

Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat first, but their start was far from ideal. Opener Abdullah Shafique departed early, managing just 9 runs, while Imam-ul-Haq added only 12 runs to the scoreboard. However, Pakistan’s fortunes took a turn for the better when their captain, Babar Azam, played a brilliant innings, notching up a well-deserved half-century, well-supported by the in-form Mohammad Rizwan.

Rizwan, looking in fine touch, was unfortunate to be dismissed at 31 runs in the 16th over by Gerald Coetzee. Iftikhar Ahmed had a promising start but couldn’t capitalize, contributing just 21 runs. Babar Azam, after his stellar performance, was also sent back in the 28th over.

However, Saud Shakeel stepped up, scoring an impressive 52 runs off an equal number of deliveries, with valuable support from Shadab Khan, who added 43 runs from 36 balls. Pakistan managed to post a total of 270 runs in 46.4 overs. South Africa’s Tabraiz Shamsi made his mark with wickets, and Marco Jansen took 3 wickets while conceding 43 runs in his 9-over spell.

Brilliant batting performance by Aiden Markram

Chasing the target, South African opener and in-form batter Quinton de Kock provided a cracking start to the team by smashing 4 fours in a single over of Pakistan’s premium pacer Shaheen Afridi. However, the star pacer got rid of the left-hander in his second over of the innings.

Skipper Temba Bavuma, who made his comeback after sitting for 2 contests, made a great start but departed after scoring 28 runs. Aiden Markram kept the one end safe as he kept scoring, however, no other batter could really contribute from the other end. The Proteas kept losing wickets at regular intervals of time.

Every middle-order batter got the start but couldn’t convert it to a big score. Markram, who was looking in good touch, got dismissed on the score of 91 runs and the scenario came down to 250/8. However, Keshav Maharaj and Shamsi held their nerves and defeated Pakistan by 1 wicket.

Here’s how fans reacted: