South Africa has been knocked out of the World Cup. Pakistan have beaten the Proteas by 49 runs, and in the process kept their slim semifinal hopes alive. Haris Sohail and Babar Azam propelled them to a competitive total while Shadab Khan, Amir and Wahab wrecked the batting line-up with regular strikes.
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SA 239/8 in 46.5 overs: Wahab goes through Rabada's defence and Pakistan two wickets away from a win.
SA 222 /7 in 44.2 overs: Timber! Wahab Riaz cleans up Chris Morris and that's surely game, set and match for Pakistan? Kagiso Rabada in next. Wahab got the yorker right on the money on that occassion; Morris was clueless.
SA 192/6 in 40.5 overs: Bowled'em. Shaheen Afridi castles dangerman Miller. An off-cutter doing the trick for the seamer. Chris Morris is in next. Pakistan now in the driver's seat.
SA 189/5 in 39.4 overs: WICKET! Shadab Khan gets rid of van der Dussen, Hafeez holds onto the catch. Dussen falls for 36. Andile Phehlukwayo is the new man at the crease. HUGE APPEAL for lbw against Miller. Given. Batsman reviews and snicko shows a faint edge. Miller survives.
SA 168/4 in 37 overs: Dropped! A difficult chance for Sarfaraz as a leading edge from van der Dussen off the bowling of Wahab spills out of his glove. Dropped again! Miller upper cuts it to third man and Amir drops it next ball! Arthur can't watch it. I have lost track of the number of times Pakistan fielders have dropped catches off the bowling of Wahab...
Shaheen Afridi comes on for his second spell. Required rate is well over 10.
SA 160/4 in 35 overs: Miller tonks Wahab through the covers for a four. Required rate climbs up is now 9.93 rpo. Time for drinks break.
SA 150/4 in 33 overs: Miller ends Imad's spell with a boundary over his head. South Africa needs more of that. Required is over nine now.
South Africa requires 171 from 120 balls
SA 138/4 in 30 overs: WICKET! And he has done the job! Du Plessis skies a cross seam delivery high into the safe hands of Sarfaraz! Faf walks back for 64. Amir is ecstatic! South Africa is in deep, deep trouble now. David Miller joins van der Dussen.
Amir is back for his second spell. It's his fifth over of the innings.
SA 130/3 in 28 overs:
It's getting a bit dark over the stadium now.
SA 130/3 in 28 overs: Chance grassed for Pakistan. Amir runs backwards to a van der Dussen lofted shot and fails to get his hands in the right place. The ball runs down to a much-needed boundary. Mickey Arthur was up from his seat in excitement for that. van der Dussen makes a better connection on the slog sweep for a boundary. 12 runs off the Shadab over.
Fifty for Faf! Sixth of his World Cup career. He will need to convert this into a big one for this chase to go down the wire. The required rate is over 8 rpo now.
SA 106/3 in 25 overs: Appeal for a caught behind on du Plessis of Imad's bowling. Sarfaraz is convinced, he goes for the review. Du Plessis seems to suggest the noise was from the creaky handle of the bat. Ultra edge shows a flat line as the ball passes the bat. Pakistan loses its review.
The spinners are putting on the squeeze here on South Africa and are also getting the overs through quickly. The required rate is hovering close to 8 rpo.
SA 103/3 in 24 overs: WICKET! Shadab again! Markram goes for a cut but is castled by the low bounce on the ball. Markram's poor tournament continues. The in-form Rassie van der Dussen join his skipper. It' a wicket-maiden from Shadab.
Du Plessis drives it wide off long-on fielder for a couple and the 100 is up for South Africa in the 23rd over.
Its been a similar story for de Kock this tournament. Get a good start but fail to make it count into a big one.
SA 92/2 in 20 overs: WICKET! De Kock goes for a slog sweep and he middles it right it into the hands of Imam, who didn't have to move an inch at deep backward square leg. He departs for 47. A wicket for Shadab Khan. Aiden Markram is the new batsman at No. 4.
SA 90/1 in 19 overs: Wahab had been bowling tight so far but he errs in his line and gets punished by de Kock. A wide ball on off is carved beyond the point fielder for a four before he nails a delivery on leg stump over the fine leg region for a huge six!
SA 70/1 in 16 overs: De Kock launches Shadab over deep mid-wicket for a six!
SA 63/1 in 15 overs: Wahab and Imad don't let the Proteas pair up the run-rate.
Wahab Riaz comes on to bowl.
Fifty up for South Africa in the 12th over.
SA 50/1 in 12 overs: De Kock crunches Wasim through point and covers to bring up his first boundary of the innings. Only off the 33rd delivery he faced.
Du Plessis has helped with South Africa's run-rate but de Kock is struggling at the moment. No boundaries for the opener in 31 balls. Uncharacteristic of him.
SA 38/1 in 10 overs: Du Plesss comes down the track and powers Imad Wasim down the ground for a much-needed boundary to end the powerplay overs.
SA 32/1 in 9 overs: DROPPED! Half chance that! A stunning effort from Shadab at backward point diving full length for an uppish drive from Faf. De Kock is on 10 from 27 balls.
SA 31/1 in 8 overs: Du Plessis and de Kock can't get the better of Amir and Shaheen here. Amir has been phenomenal with the new ball on a pitch which hasn't offered much for the South African pacers.
SA 23/1 in 5 overs: Faf with a streaky boundary off Shaheen before a crunching cover drive from the final ball of the over.
SA 15/1 in 4 overs: De Kock can't find the gaps and plays out a maiden over to Amir.
Shaheen Afridi is warming up. He will likely come on for Hafeez at the other end.
SA 8/1 in 2 overs: Amir raps Amla's pads first ball! The umpire turns down the appeal and Pakistan asks for a DRS review. WICKET! What a review by Pakistan and what a start from Amir! Amla walks back for two. Du Plessis is the new man in.
SA 4/0 in 1 over: And the ploy nearly works. De Kock looks to go aerial, mistimes it to mid-on where Wahab Riaz puts it down on the dive.
Hafeez will open the bowling for Pakistan.
South Africa innings
We will be back with the chase in about over 20 minutes.
Tahir on his 41-2 and record-breaking feat today: 'I thought bowling would be tough. It did stop a bit. Pleased I did my job for the team and country.' He reckons 308 will be gettable as there is nothing in the wicket for the bowlers.
Can South Africa chase this down? It will take some doing considering how they have campaign has unfolded so far.
Pakistan finishes with 308 for 8. Ngidi misses a run-out opportunity off the final ball by knocking the ball with his hands instead of the ball.
Looks like there won't be a hundred for Sohail. Two balls left and he is on 89 from 58 balls. WICKET! He is gone! Another slower ball and Haris mistimes it. The ball loops high into the hands of de Kock. A standing ovation for Sohail as he walks back. Kind of knock which could reignite Pakistan's World Cup campaign.
WICKET! More late joy for Ngidi. Wahab fails to connect with his wild swing off a slower delivery and hhas his bail knocked off the groove. Sarfaraz comes in at No. 8 and survives the hat-trick ball.
PAK 304/5 in 49 overs: The partnership was worth 71 from just 40 balls. Wahab Riaz steps up to the plate. Sarfaraz holds himself back. 300 up for Pakistan. It's coming in singles and twos at the moment. Sohail chips Rabada to the leg side for a boundary. An excellent over ruined in the end.
PAK 295/5 in 48 overs: He is content with just the single, however. Imad seems to be going for the big ones. He strikes a Ngidi full toss straight down the ground for another four. A day to forget for Ngidi. WICKET! Just as i say that, Imad holes out to the long-off fielder. A superb tumbling catch from JP Duminy.
Four sixes should take Haris to the fastest hundred of this World Cup and I want that!
This knock should keep Shoaib Malik out of the side for the rest of the tournament.
PAK 277/4 in 46 overs: Where was Pakistan hiding Haris Sohail in the last few games?! He muscles Ngidi over the deep-midwicket boundary for six! He is nearing a well-deserved hundred. Fifty partnership between the pair, second fastest of the tournament.
PAK 266/4 in 45 overs: Sohail goes aerial and Tahir completely messes that one on the run! The next ball goes to the third man boundary after a thick edge while trying to swing the ball to the leg side. Morris isn't amused.
PAK 258/4 in 44 overs: Imad takes no time to get going. Advances off the first ball and crunches Phehlukwayo through covers for a boundary. Sohail swats a slower delivery long off for a six and that's Pakistan's 250! But what was Duminy doing there? He was not on the line and had to backtrack to get to that and ultimately fails. Sohail follows it up by sweeping it to the leg side for a four.
'Let's go Haris!!' chants ring around Lord's.
PAK 242/4 in 43 overs: Runs are flowing from the bat of Sohail. He isn't trying anything out of the ordinary but is scoring at a good click. He brings up his fifty off just 38 balls. He ramps a short ball hight into the third man boundary.
PAK 229/4 in 42 overs: WICKET! Babar Azam throws it away. He is frustrated with his dismissal. His inside out lofted cover drive doesn't have enough on it and is caught at deep over. Phehlukwayo with the wicket. Imad Wasim is promoted to No. 6. Sohail continues his good touch. He delicately guides Phehlukwayo to the third man boundary.
PAK 217/3 in 40 overs: Babar and Sohail have done well in the last 10 overs and have set Pakistan to go for a final assault in the final phase of the innings. 74 runs added in between overs 31-40 for the loss of no wickets much in thanks to Sohail's acceleration.
Pakistan is on the ascendancy at the moment.
PAK 206/3 in 38 overs: Babar runs it down to third man boundary and that's 200 up for Pakistan. He clips the next ball fine down to the vacant boundary for another four.
PAK 195/3 in 37 overs: Fifty-run stand between the pair and at a good rate too in 38 balls. Sohail has been the aggressor in the partnerships striking at well over 150.
Babar brings up his second fifty of the World Cup. He does it off just 61 balls.
PAK 184/3 in 35 overs: Rabada has a short leg in place for Sohail but bowls the wrong length. He bowls one full and Sohail punches it down the ground. A short and wide delivery is smashed over the deep point region for a six!
PAK 171/3 in 34 overs: Faf still persisting with Markram. 16 from his last two overs. Would be a good time to give Ngidi a go instead.
PAK 156/3 in 32 overs: 150 up for Pakistan in the 32nd over as South Africa is well and truly back in this contest after Fakhar and Imam's early onslaught in the powerplay overs.
Haris Sohail is the new batsman.
PAK 143/3 in 30 overs: WICKET! Pakistan supporters' worst fear is realised. A wicket to a part timer. Hafeez, who has been bogged down today, goes for an expansive sweep to only miss and be trapped in front! That looked dead on middle and leg. Hafeez and Babar come together in the middle but they run out of time. Good call at the end of the day as ball tracker shows the ball is crashing into off stump.
PAK 139/2 in 29 overs: Faf turns to the part time off spin of Markram to chalk off some overs from Ngidi. He concedes just two from his first over. Phehlukwayo follows it up by conceding just a single.
PAK 133/2 in 25 overs: Hafeez slog sweeps Tahir for a six and goes for another but misses it. Tahir appeals vociferously but Dharmasena isn't convinced. Tahir is adamant that it's out and wants the review. QdK hesitantly agrees with him and Faf calls it. Ball tracker shows the ball is comfortably missing the stumps. Poor review as it turns out.
PAK 108/2 in 22 overs: Hafeez gets off the mark and that's Pakistan's hundred. Ngidi is getting a pasting today. Babar strikes back-to-back boundaries to end his sixth over: a pull to deep mid-wicket and a punch down the ground. Ngidi's six overs return 41 runs for no wicket.
PAK 98/2 in 21 overs: WICKET! What a stunner from Tahir! He takes a stunning low return catch off Imam and he takes off! No one is stopping him and Tahir isn't stopping either! He is now the outright leading wicket-taker for South Africa in World Cups . Mohammad Hafeez is in at No. 4.
PAK 97/1 in 20 overs: Babar Azam after a sedate start, gets a crunching square drive on the up for his boundary off Ngidi.
Imran Tahir is now the joint-highest wicket-taker for South Africa in World Cups with 38, alongside Alan Donald.
Michael Vaughan tweets, "Early signs the other Pakistan have arrived at Lords..." Just early signs mind you. Shahid Hashmi explains what Vaughan's tweet better here .
PAK 81/1 in 15 overs: WICKET! Oh dear... What was that from Fakhar.. He squares himself up and looks to scoop the ball behind but fails spectacularly. He doesn't get much meat on that and he ends up lifting a simple catch to first slip. Tahir goes for another run and this time the wicket will stand. Babar Azam is the new man in.
PAK 75/0 in 14 overs: Morris and Phehlukwayo have helped pull things back a bit in the last few overs. Just 21 runs from the last six overs with just one boundary during this period. Morris bowls a seven ball over after some confusion in the middle between the umpires.
PAK 67/0 in 12 overs: Fakhar smashes a Morris short delivery straight to the deep square leg fielder where Tahir takes a tumbling, low catch. The on-field umpires aren't convinced. They ask for a replay and the soft signal is not-out. Replays suggest Tahir didn't have that under control and that the ball was grassed. Third umpire says its not-out and huge cheers ring around the Lord's from the Pakistan contingent. Faf is not happy with that. There's a talking point for you. Tahir was convinced that he had caught it. He was running wild as if it was his wicket.
PAK 58/0 in 10 overs: Just four runs from the last two overs but Pakistan will take that powerplay.
PAK 54/0 in 8 overs: Morris gets Imam to nick one behind but the ball flies in between the 'keeper and Amla at second slip and runs to the boundary. My colleague Ayan chimes 'Nothing can stop South Africa from exiting the World Cup. Not even Pakistan.' Harsh but its been one of those World Cup campaigns for the Proteas.
Change in bowling, but no change in approach yet. Imam punches Chris Morris's first ball down the ground for a four. FIFTY up for Pakistan in the eighth over .
PAK 44/0 in 6 overs: Imam crunches Ngidi through the cover again but Miller, at cover point, is in the way and gets a blow to his fingers for his troubles. Faf goes for the retreat by pushing Miller back to deep point on the boundary for Fakhar. But, Fakhar says 'I don't care. I will slog you from offside to the leg!' SMACK DAB in the middle of the bat! Fakhar pulls him over deep-wicket for a six!
How much are the Proteas missing Dale Steyn in this World Cup? It's been one of the strangest World Cup campaigns for South Africa in recent memory. Troubles both on and off the pitch.
PAK 29/0 in 4 overs: While Fakhar is belligerent with his strokes at one end, Imam is more pleasing on the eye. Two back-to-back boundaries off Ngidi. He pierces the off-side field with text-book front foot drives. He ends the over with another drive between the point and cover fielder. Too full from Ngidi at the moment.
This deck has all the ingredients for Fakhar to play his natural game.
PAK 17/0 in 3 overs: A swivel-pull on the front foot this time by Fakhar as the ball flies wide of the short leg fielder. Another short ball, this time on the midriff region and Fakhar pulls it aerially over the deep short leg region for a one bounce four.
PAK 5/0 in 1 over: Not much movement off the pitch for Rabada in the first over. Fakhar drives him on the up, slashing him through the covers for a boundary.
Kagiso Rabada starts proceedings with the ball against Imam-ul-Haq. Fakhar Zaman watches on from the non-striker's end. It's appears a bit overcast for the moment. Rabada and Co. wouldn't mind that.
Pakistan innings
It's time for the national anthems.
Shoaib Malik has had a wretched run in the World Cup. His scores in the tournament read: 8, 0, 0. Pakistan will go with the relatively younger Sohail, whose only appearance in the tournament was against the West Indies in the tournament opener scoring 8.
Faf: 'There's pressure every game you play, especially in the World Cup. Two teams will try to play their best cricket today, hopefully it'll be exciting. We had an opportunity to launch in the last 10 overs in the last game, but we fell 15 runs short. It's the same team, gives us a good balance. I was going to bowl first anyways, it's a good toss to lose.'
Sarfaraz: 'We are going to bat first today. It looks a good wicket, we'll put runs on the board and defend it. We are focussing on this match, hopefully we do well. It's an important game for us. Haris Sohail and Shaheen Afridi are back in the team.'
TOSS: Pakistan elects to bat first
Pakistan's record in the CWC: L W N/R L L
South Africa's record in the CWC: L L L N/R W L
PITCH REPORT from Wasim Akram: There's some grass on the wicket but it's been well rolled. Batting first would be a good option as the surface is dry beneath. If you are either Faf or Sarfaraz, you win the toss and put the runs on board.
Our correspondent Shayan Acharya will be bringing you updates from the iconic venue.
The Preview
World Cup: Pakistan, South Africa in quest for points and pride
A lot can change over the course of a week, and the Pakistan cricket team is aware of it.
Following an 89-run defeat to India in Manchester last Sunday, the team has drawn criticism from fans and former cricketers.
The flurry of blessings and good wishes that it had received prior to the marquee World Cup fixture has now been replaced by calls for change in leadership and even petitions to disband the team.
Bruised and battered, Pakistan will take on South Africa at Lord’s on Sunday.
With three points from five games, it needs to win all its remaining games to retain any realistic chances of making it to the semifinals.
South Africa , too, has underperformed and has very little chance to make it to the knockouts.
While its bowlers have troubled the opposition, its batting has been a huge let down.
“When you look across the World Cups in the past, when the teams have won, their experienced players have performed. Our experienced players haven’t stood up,” South Africa coach, Ottis Gibson, said after the team’s last outing against New Zealand.
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Mohammad Amir the big threat for struggling Proteas
Pakistan paceman Mohammad Amir should be rubbing his hands together at the prospect of capitalising on South Africa's batting frailties in a must-win Cricket World Cup clash at Lord's on Sunday.
The Proteas paid the price for their shortcomings with the bat once again at Edgbaston on Wednesday, losing by four wickets to New Zealand after posting just 241-6.
Although South Africa was poor in the field, lack of runs was also their downfall and Kane Williamson showed them how it is done with a match-winning unbeaten century.
Faf du Plessis' side will have to raise their game in the first match of the tournament at Lord's, where Amir will look to add to his impressive tally of 13 wickets at an average of 13.
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Pakistan captain Sarfaraz slams former cricketers
Pakistan’s defeat to India in yet another World Cup fixture has drawn widespread criticism from former players, with skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed copping the maximum flak.
On the eve of Pakistan’s must-win fixture against South Africa at Lord’s, Sarfaraz took the fight to the former cricketers. “If I say anything about them, it will become an issue, so I say nothing. They think we are no players. So, if we reply to them, they take offence. Khuda ban ke TV pe baithe hain (They appear on television, thinking they are gods),” Sarfaraz said.
The captain refuted claims of divisions in the team and said: “There is no groupism. People talk about it only when you lose.”
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Lord’s well-equipped to minimise rain delays
Persistent rain and a damp outfield have already forced three washouts in this edition of the World Cup, while only seven overs were bowled in the West Indies-South Africa game.
The tournament does not feature reserve days for the group stage and most venues have found it hard to grapple with, what has already proved to be the most rain-affected World Cup ever.
However, Karl McDermott, head groundsman of the Lord's Cricket Ground, is confident the venue is well equipped should the weather gods decide to cause downpour.
"Rain is always a challenge anywhere, particularly in England. The more rain that falls, essentially the less time you have to prepare the pitch. However, we’re blessed at Lord’s with fantastic equipment that can minimise any risk of not having enough time to prepare pitches," McDermott told Sportstar .
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World Cup strugglers look for Lord's lift
Beleaguered Pakistan and South Africa have no margin for error when they meet in a must-win Cricket World Cup match at Lord's on Sunday.
Pakistan and the Proteas are highly unlikely to feature in the semi-finals after winning just one match apiece.
The ICC Champions Cup holders will be smarting from a heavy defeat in a rain-affected match against arch-rivals India at Old Trafford last time out and could make changes, with Haris Sohail among the contenders to come into the side.
South Africa have also endured a miserable tournament, New Zealand captain Kane Williamson's magnificent unbeaten century consigning them to a four-wicket loss on Wednesday that left them all but eliminated.
Faf du Plessis says there will be an overhaul of the ODI squad after the World Cup and there may be changes in London this weekend, with the batting line-up having failed time and again.
The last four appears to be beyond reach for both sides, but they will be expected to try and salvage some pride this weekend after coming in for a barrage of criticism.
Tournament So Far
South Africa started with a defeat to England and have only beaten Afghanistan, also suffering injury blows along the way.
West Indies inflicted a heavy defeat on Pakistan in their opener and although they responded with a win over hosts England, that proved to be a false dawn.
What They Said
Pakistan paceman Wahab Riaz: "Our focus is on beating South Africa, and we know we shouldn't get ahead or think about the future. [We need to focus] on what we do in the now and not what is happening elsewhere."
Proteas head coach Ottis Gibson: "We've still got three games to play and I'd like to think that we can at least play the way we know we can play. We haven't played like that, for whatever reason, but I'd like to think we can still do that."
Facts
- South Africa have won three of their four World Cup matches between the two nations, but Pakistan came out on top in their last meeting in the competition four years ago.
- Pakistan have lost seven of their 11 ODI games at Lord's, while the Proteas have recorded one win in four attempts at the famous London ground.
- Imran Tahir needs to strike twice to become South Africa's leading World Cup wicket-taker. Allan Donald currently holds the record on 38.
The match will be streamed live on Hotstar.
Hello and welcome to Sportstar 's LIVE coverage of ICC World Cup match between Pakistan and South Africa at Lord's, London. I am Aashin Prasad and I will be taking you through the day's proceedings.
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