Proteas Lose 500th ODI & the Series

Yesterday South Africa played their 500th One Day International since re-admission. Graeme Pollock was also honoured with the naming of a pavilion after him, the Graeme Pollock Pavilion. The start of the match was delayed due to rain and was rescheduled to start at 12:00. As a result, the match was reduced to 45 overs per side. South Africa won the toss and chose to field. Pakistan remained unchanged from the 1st ODI while the Proteas made two changes, McLaren in for Philander and Tsotsobe in for Morkel.
Once again Hafeez was dismissed by Steyn, for the 15th time. Shehzad reached his 3rd ODI century, as well as 1000 ODI runs. He scored the most runs for Pakistan, reaching 102 runs off 112 deliveries. Maqsood and Shehzad shared a 3rd wicket partnership of 124 runs off 134 deliveries. With Maqsood and Umar Akmal following closely with 42 runs each. Anwar Ali lost his wicket for obstructing the field (Law 37 Obstructing the Field). Which reminded me that Hafeez was dismissed the same way at Sahara Kingsmead Stadium during their tour of South Africa earlier this year.
Anyway, Pakistan were all out for 262 runs at the end of their 45 overs. With Steyn finishing with a career best of 6-39, while McLaren and Imran Tahir took 1 wicket a piece.
With the Proteas needing 263 runs in 45 overs for victory, they lost the early wicket of Smith. However, Amla and de Kock steadied the ship for a while until the loss of de Kock. Although the runs were dripping in while the run rate was increasing, Amla was able to reach a 22nd half century. Skipper AB de Villiers came to the crease just when the Proteas were looked like they were in trouble. After smashing a few balls around, de Villiers quickly reached his 35th half century and his 9th against Pakistan. On his way to a century, Amla fell two runs short.
Eventually the Proteas failed to reach the required total while Pakistan won by 1 run, won their maiden bilateral series and lead the 3-match series 2-0.

Kallis Returns but Proteas Lose

The first ODI between South Africa and Pakistan was more than just an ODI. Jacques Kallis returned to the squad after the last match he played was on the 29th of February 2012 and missed out on 29 ODIs. Ryan McLaren who has taken 39 wickets this year and was the Man of the Series in the UAE was dropped for this ODI.

Steyn and Morkel were on target, taking 3 wickets each and Kallis taking 2 wickets. Restricting Pakistan to 218-9. The Proteas could have dismissed Pakistan for an even lower score, but were disappointed by all their dropped catches, missed run outs and over-throws.
Steyn took the wicket of Hafeez yet again. Hafeez had been dismissed by Steyn 13 times in 20 matches. Yesterday, Hafeez lost his wicket to Steyn for the 4th time in 9 ODIs. Commentator Robin Jackman even exclaimed, "Steyn does him again! Can you believe it!"
The two debutants, Bilawal and Anwar Ali produced a 8th wicket partnership of 74 runs off 71 deliveries, to lift Pakistan. In 50 overs, the Proteas needed 219 runs to win.
On his return, Kallis scored his 86th ODI 50 and his 11th against Pakistan, also passing 11 500 runs but was dismissed on 50.
Unfortunately, Duminy fell one run short of a half century. After his dismissal, the Proteas struggled to score runs, with the required run rate rising. With Steyn and Morkel at the wicket, it looked like the Proteas could win the match. Eventually, the Proteas tumbled, managing only 195 runs.
A little birdie told me Cape Town got the T20 and the ODI because the Proteas lost their match the last time they played at Newlands against Pakistan if I'm not mistaken. I hate to point out the obvious, but wasn't it better for them to lose one match rather than now losing 3? Mhm, just saying.
Pakistan won by 23 runs and lead the 3-match series 1-0. The Proteas will be looking to level the series in the 2nd ODI on Wednesday, to avoid a series defeat.

Weekend Wrap: Proteas, Tendulkar, Momentum Cup

PROTEAS LEVEL TEST SERIES BUT WIN ODI AND T20 SERIES
On Friday evening the Proteas finished their tour of Pakistan on a high note. The Proteas won the 2nd and final T20 against Pakistan by 6 runs.

The Proteas lost the 1st Test match to Pakistan by 7 wickets but came back with a win when they beat Pakistan by an innings and 92 runs to level the 2-match Test series.

The next series were the One Day Internationals which the Proteas won 4-1. The Proteas won the 1st ODI by only 1 run and Pakistan came back to level the series by winning the second ODI by 66 runs. However, after the 2nd ODI everything went downhill for Pakistan, losing the rest of the ODIs. The Proteas won the 3rd ODI by 68 runs, the 4th by 28 runs and the 5th by 117 runs.
The Proteas also won the 2-match T20 series. The 1st by 9 wickets and the last by only 6 runs. However, the Proteas won something even bigger. They moved up to no. 3 in the ICC T20 team rankings.
Both teams have arrived in South Africa and Pakistan will begin their tour this coming Wednesday with a T20 in Johannesburg.

SACHIN TENDULKAR
The undeniable cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar called time on his 24 year cricket career on Saturday after his 200th Test match against the West Indies in India.

Tendulkar mesmerised the cricket world as the world's leading scorer in both Test and ODI cricket and the only man to score 100 international Test centuries.
Unfortunately many hoped Tendulkar would score a century in his final match, but his wicket fell for only 74 runs. The most important thing wasn't his performance during the last Test of career, but his entire career. He could've scored a couple of runs and he was still going to get a standing ovation and India's highest civilian award.
All in all, it was an incredible atmosphere in India, with cricketers such as Brian Lara and Shane Warne watching the Little Master for the last time.
Maybe I'll write a special post for Tendulkar, but that might take forever. For now, all I can say is #ThankYouSachin.

MOMENTUM 1 DAY CUP
Cape Cobras v The Unlimited Titans The Momentum 1 Day Cup final scheduled to be played last Friday in Cape Town was abandoned because of wet conditions. The Cape Cobras had won the toss and elected to bat. Unfortunately, after 5.5 overs, the rain began to fall. Eventually the match ended in a no result and was to be played the next day - reserve day.

The rain continued to fall all through Saturday and eventually the match was abandoned. Once again the Momentum 1 Day Cup would be shared like it was in the previous campaign. The Cape Cobras and the Titans share the cup this time around. Sadly for the Cape Cobras, they are sharing the cup for the second time.
Hopefully next year the weather won't determine cricket matches. We want to watch some cricket! Not rain falling on the pitch.

Proteas Bowlers Win 1st T20

The first T20 between Pakistan and South Africa took place last night in Dubai. Statistics show that Pakistan have won 6 of their previous 7 T20s, and only one was a no result. So Pakistan seems to be on top of their game when it comes to T20s.
Pakistan won toss and chose to bat. Unfortunately, Pakistan got off to a terrible start, losing 3 early wickets for only 4 runs.
Before the start of the match, Robin Jackman said it takes just one man to get the job done. For Pakistan that man turned out to be Umar Akmal, scoring 49 runs off 41 balls.
However, while Pakistan were struggling to score runs, the Proteas were struggling with their over rate.
Eventually Pakistan could only manage 98 runs for the loss of 9 wickets, with four of their batsmen dismissed for a duck.

Steyn finished with figures of 3-15, Tsotsobe with figures of 2-9 and while Tahir finished with figures of 2-17.
The lowest total successfully defended by Pakistan was 122 vs Sri Lanka in 2012. Unless the Proteas were going to tumble like Pakistan, defending 98 runs seemed impossible for the hosts.
To win the Proteas needed 99 runs from 120 balls at 4.95 runs per over.
Amla and de Kock opened the batting for the Proteas. Amla tried to push the runs for South Africa and at one point was dropped on 0 by Maqsood but was later dismissed by Tanvir for 13 runs.
After Amla's wicket, de Kock and skipper du Plessis shared a partnership of 83 runs from 73 balls to lead the Proteas to victory. They reached the required total of 99 runs in only 14.3 overs.
The Proteas beat Pakistan by 9 wickets and lead the 2 match series 1-0.
Now both teams look to the 2nd and final T20 on Friday, also to be played in Dubai. Which will also be the last match of the tour.

Proteas Clinch Series 4-1

South Africa went into the 5th and final ODI against Pakistan with a 3-1 lead and series win. They had nothing to lose but wanted to finish the series on a high.

The Proteas won the toss and elected to bat. Unfortunately they quickly lost the wicket of Amla to Irfan.

Skipper AB de Villiers was at the heart of 2 of the partnerships that kept the Proteas score ascending. McLaren and de Villiers had a partnership of 83 runs. The other partnership was 62 runs between du Plessis and de Villiers. Du Plessis and de Kock were behind the other partnership of 50 runs.

De Villiers led from the front, smashing 115* runs from 102 balls and scoring this 15th ODI century and his 3rd against Pakistan. He also became the fastest South African to reach 6000* ODI runs from 147* innings and 2nd overall behind Viv Richards. De Villiers' 115* runs was also the highest score by a batsman during the series. Moreover, du Plessis scored 46 runs while de Kock was closely behind with 34 runs.

In the last 10 overs the Proteas scored 114 runs at a run rate of 11.40 and only lost 2 wickets. They posted a total of 268-7 and left Pakistan requiring 269 runs to win.

Pakistan have a good record at Sharjah Stadium, they've played 114* matches, won 76, lost 36 and tied 1.

Pakistan failed to build an early partnership. As a result, during the powerplay alone, they lost 3 wickets and found themselves sitting on 56-4.

Once again, Misbah-ul-haq came to the wicket when Pakistan was in trouble yet again. It was only when Misbah and Maqsood were at the wicket where Pakistan managed to build a partnership. Together they built a partnership of 39 runs off 49 balls. Misbah also managed to reach 2000* runs as captain.

Unfortunately, Akmal was dropped on 19 runs and went on to make 30. Together Akmal and Maqsood shared a partnership of 54 runs off 62 deliveries. Maqsood reached 50 runs, his second ODI half century.

Pakistan came back strongly but it wasn't enough to for them to overcome the Proteas. At one point, Pakistan lost 3 wickets for 3 runs. Between the fall of the 5th and last wicket, Pakistan only managed 41 runs and they were all out for only 151 runs.

It also seems Pakistan hasn't wrapped their heads around reviews because all the reviews they took during the series were unsuccessful.

The Proteas won the match by 115 runs and the series 4-1. As the Proteas were leaving the field after their victory, de Villiers pointed to the Proteas badge on his chest and gave it a proud tap.

Proteas Win and Lead the Series 3-1

An incredible win for the Proteas who sealed a series victory against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi last night. The victory boasts a maiden century as well as a 5 wicket haul.

After winning the toss, the Proteas elected to bat, which was probably a good idea since they have won more matches in Abu Dhabi batting first than they did batting second. De Kock and Amla shared an opening partnership of 87 runs before Amla was dismissed. De Kock then went on to grab his maiden century with an incredible six. Duminy and McLaren then finished off the Proteas innings with a 52 run partnership.

At the end of the innings, the Proteas set Pakistan a target of 267. Pakistan started off well with Shehzad and Hafeez sharing a 74 run partnership. Imran Tahir then dismissed Hafeez with a beautiful delivery. The ball sneaked between Hafeez and the bat (and gloves) and went on to hit the wickets. Explaining it doesn't sound as beautiful as watching it.

Eventually Misbah-ul-haq came to the wicket and one of the commentators actually said, "I wonder if Misbah will change his name to Misbah-ul-haq-in-a-crisis." Reason being, he always comes in when Pakistan is facing a crisis.

The introduction of Misbah did in fact lift Pakistan. Misbah and Maqsood shared a 88 run partnership from 93 balls. Unfortunately, in the swing of things, Maqsood hit one too many balls and was later sent packing. After the wickets of Misbah and Maqsood fell, the last few wickets fell in quick succession. As the wickets were falling, Steyn was the bowler behind those wickets and eventually recorded a career best figures of 5-25.

After McLaren bagged the last wicket, De Villiers showed true patriotism as he kissed the Proteas badge.

The Proteas not only secured a 28 run victory, but won the 5 match ODI series and lead the series 3-1 with one match remaining. The Proteas didn't leave it late this time. They clinched the ODI series with one match remaining.

The 5th ODI will be played on Monday at 12:25 CAT.

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