1.01 Pakistan throw it away

Bat and ball / Jamie "The Pacman" Pacheco / 29 October 2007 / Leave a Comment

Here's how Pakistan went from being a 1.01 shot to beat South Africa to falling 14 runs short of their total

You'd have thought Pakistan would have learnt their lesson after the Twenty20 Final. Their downfall that day came when Misbah Ul-Haq tried to play an elaborate reverse sweep for six and got caught. They had enough balls to spare back then to chase down the total in a sensible way and they certainly had enough balls (not to mention wickets) to do the same again today in the deciding 5th ODI against South Africa.

Set 233 after Kallis put on a patient 86 (he wasn't playing for his average was he?), Pakistan were cruising with Younus Khan and Mohammad Youssuf at the crease. Even when Khan got out for 56, Pakistan werein total control with plenty of wickets to spare and well ahead of the run rate. No surprise then that they were matched on Betfair at 1.01 for £71k, 1.02 for £42k and 1.03 for £19k. South Africa touched 150. Mohammad Youssuf got out to one that replays suggested he hadn't nicked and Shoaib Malik followed, which put a bit of pressure on Pakistan in a match that had been all but sewn up.

But with five wickets in hand, it was still theirs to lose and Pakistan need no second invitation to be guilty of a major bottle job. Shahid Afridi hit a huge six but got out pretty much next ball trying to repeat the feat. A couple of stunning catches from Duminy and Boucher later and Pakistan were down to their last wicket with Shoaib Akhtar joining Rehman at the crease. Pakistan needed 14 off almost 4 overs and were around the 3.1 mark to do so.

Which begs the question: what do you do when you've been away from international cricket for almost a year after receiving a 13-match ban for striking your ream-mate with a bat during a practice session when your team needs you to keep a cool head to wrap up a Series? Well, if you're Shoaib Akhtar the obvious thing to do is to try and hit your first delivery for six over square leg. Bowled Morkel, caught Nel.