Amid some harsh criticism after their humiliating loss to India, Pakistan made a wonderful comeback to register an emphatic 49-run win over South Africa in the ongoing World Cup at Lord’s on Sunday (June 23).
Batting first, Pakistan rode on Haris Sohail’s 59-ball 89 and Babar Azam’s 80-ball 69 to post 308/7 on the board in a must-win encounter. In reply, Proteas batsmen were found wanting against Mohammad Amir (2/49), Wahab Riaz (3/46) and Shadab Khan (3/5) as Pakistan eventually restricted them to 259/9 in 50 overs.
After the match, former Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar posted a video on his YouTube channel and lauded his national team for playing positive cricket. He also hoped that Sarfaraz Ahmed and company will carry their fearless approach in the remaining games and make it to the semifinals.
"I recommend Pakistan to hold their ground, play pressure-free cricket, play according to the best of their abilities and display their talent," Akhtar said.
"Pakistan has a good chance of making it to the semifinals. They need to play fearless cricket without any pressure. If England loses their three matches against Australia, India and New Zealand, Pakistan can come through," he added.
With two wins from six games, Pakistan is now at the seventh spot in the points table. Their remaining fixtures are against New Zealand (June 26), Afghanistan (June 29) and Bangladesh (July 5). If the Men in Green manage to win their listed matches and the outcome of other clashes go in their favour, the 1992 champions can reach the last four stage.
Commenting on the match, Akhtar said: "South Africa looked disintegrated. After losing the toss, their morale went down. Their batters, especially Quinton de Kock, didn't look interested in getting South Africa out of hot waters by scoring a hundred. Faf looked a very average captain. The bowlers could not manage to bring out the magic."
The Rawalpindi Express had special praise reserve for Haris Sohail, who replaced the veteran Shoaib Malik in the playing XI and batted with intent right from the outset.
"I was constantly saying that Haris Sohail should be included in the playing XI because he is a very compact player. Against South Africa, he showed how to score runs. In fact, he looked better than Babar Azam. Haris provided the thrust and helped Pakistan get a total in excess of 300," he remarked before adding: "Haris Sohail was a great addition and Shoaib Malik was dropped which was a fair call."
Akhtar also hailed Pakistan bowlers, saying: "Pakistan's bowling was very good. Amir picked up wickets upfront and that was crucial...Pakistan has raised alarming bells for other teams as their bowlers - Wahab Riaz and Amir - have been able to get the ball reverse swing."
Watch the full video here:
