Champions Trophy 2017, Pakistan vs South Africa: Five talking points

In yet another rain-affected game in the ongoing edition of the Champions Trophy, Pakistan overcame a strong South African side and emerged victorious by 19 runs at Edgbaston, Birmingham.

There have been two washouts and two rain-affected games in the seven contests so far in this tournament. However, Pakistan didn’t complain much about the rain as they gained two crucial points to keep their chances of making it to the semi-final alive.

After winning the toss, the South African skipper AB de Villiers opted to bat first. However, the choice wasn’t a fruitful one as an inspired Pakistan bowling attack put on an impressive performance to restrict a strong Proteas batting line-up to 219.

After losing a heap of wickets in the middle overs, South Africa looked in deep trouble. But, David Miller played a responsible knock (75* off 104 balls) and was ably supported by the lower-middle order - first by Chris Morris and then Kagiso Rabada - to post a competitive target on the board.

Extra cover: Champions Trophy 2017, Pakistan vs South Africa: Hasan Ali's devastating spell is the SK Turning Point of the Match

While all the bowlers of Pakistan had a great day, Hasan Ali and Imad Wasim stood out. The youngsters bowled with great discipline and deservedly shared five wickets between them. After playing at a less than impressive run-rate initially, Miller looked to break free at the end. But, both Mohammad Amir Junaid Khan were excellent with their yorkers and gave very few away.

However, given the unpredictability of the Pakistan batting, a target of 220 was not all that discouraging for the de Villiers-led side. Some sensible batting from the Pakistani batsmen, helped by the rain, won them the game, though.

Here are five talking points from the game:

#1 The South African collapse

After choosing to bat first, South Africa got off to a pretty decent start as the openers Hashim Amla and Quinton de Kock put on 40 runs for the first wicket before Amla got out LBW to the left armer Imad Wasim.

Things looked pretty good for South Africa considering they were batting first. However, the innings lost its path as Pakistan kept chipping away with wickets at regular intervals. It was Imad Wasim, who hurt South Africa initially.

First, he removed Amla and then he got rid of the dangerous AB de Villiers as the Proteas Skipper mistimed one off the very first ball to be caught at point. Faf de Plessis too got out after a start and JP Duminy’s poor run continued as he poked at a seaming delivery by Hasan Ali and was out caught behind.

If it wasn’t for David Miller’s responsible innings the scoreboard could have been a very embarrassing one South Africa. But, take nothing away from the Pakistan bowlers. They stuck to their plans and built pressure by bowling dot balls to bring out wrong shots.

#2 Hasan Ali’s impressive spell

Hasan Ali was at his best in this crucial encounter

On the back of a forgettable outing against India, Hasan Ali impressed everyone with his accuracy in line and length and pace. The youngster extracted movement off the pitch and asked many questions of the batsmen. He was the wrecker in chief and was deservedly awarded the man of the match for his spell of 8-1-24-3.

The Proteas are known to be good players of fast bowling. But, Hasan Ali troubled all the batsmen with his skiddy pace and nagging line and length. Ali has been impressive for Pakistan over the past few months and you could see why the selectors have shown a lot of faith in his abilities.

His skills were on display in this game and Pakistan will hope that the quickie continues to do the damage in the middle-overs.

#3 An improved performance from the unpredictable Pakistan

Pakistan were better in all the facets of the game on the

It was a perfect day on the field for Pakistan. After the humiliating defeat against their arch-rivals India, their confidence had been dented. But, this performance should give them a lot of relief, along with two important points.

Things looked pretty ordinary in the first ten overs of the game as the intensity lacked among the players. But, soon after dismissing the two openers, the energy showed as a hungrier Pakistan turned up.

The bowling was top-class and the batting was good enough to see off a fiery spell of seam bowling from Morne Morkel. Pakistan will look to carry the momentum going forward, and get one more win to claim a spot in the semi-finals.

#4 Morne Morkel back at his menacing best

Morne Morkel was unplayable during his fiery spell

The tall quickie had been a pale shadow of himself lately prior to the last game. The zip was missing and the pace hadn’t been as threatening. But, Morne Morkel turned back the clock and put on a brilliant show of seam bowling under perfect conditions for fast bowling.

The team needed him to deliver and the big man did his job. It was unfortunate that it wasn’t enough to win the game for his country but he caused a lot of problems to the Pakistani batsmen with the extra pace and bounce.

#5 Rain continues to affect games in the Champions Trophy

South Africa will consider themselves unlucky as rain washed away their slight chances of a win

This is the second rain-truncated game of this tournament. The weather conditions are uncontrollable. But the extent of effect the rain is having has been unfortunate.

South Africa would have fancied their chances against the Pakistan batting lineup given their inconsistency. But, the heavy downpour made sure that they didn’t get enough time to put Pakistan’s batsmen under pressure.

We can only hope that the rain gods don’t intervene in the important fixtures in the future.