Pakistan U19s [190/7] beat South Africa U19s [189/9] by 3 wickets to win quarter-final

[MenInG]

Pakistan clinched a three-wicket win over the Coca-Cola South Africa under-19s in their ICC U19 World Cup quarter-final encounter to secure a place in the semi-final at Christchurch on Wednesday. South Africa will now enter the Plate Championship portion of the competition where they will play for, at best fifth position overall.


The young Proteas were reduced to 189/9 at the end of their 50 overs after being put in to bat first. The top order failed to fire once again. Jiveshen Pillay, Matthew Breetzke, Hermann Rolfes and captain, Raynard van Tonder fell for scores of 14, 12, five and four respectively, leaving the side struggling on 43/4 when Wandile Makwetu stepped in. The number five batsman once again showed great maturity under pressure, hitting a 65-ball 60 (4x4s, 1x6). Other notable contributions came from Jason Niemand (36 off 64), Jean du Plessis (21 off 44) and Jade de Klerk, who added a late burst energy to the innings with his 16 off 28.

Pakistan’s Muhammad Musa and Shaheen Afridi were the pick of the bowlers, the seamers took a respective 3/29 and 2/30 up front, accounting for the top five and effectively putting the rest of the line-up on the backfoot.

South Africa did their best with the ball during the opposition’s reply. They had them 95/4 in the 22nd over before Ali Zaryab played a match-winning knock, returning unbeaten for 74 runs off 111 balls (5x4s). Saad Khan and Rohail Nazir chipped in with 26 and 23 runs respectively, cushioning the fall of wickets with their contributions.

Niemand was the most successful with the ball in hand for the young South Africans, he took two wickets for 31 runs including a maiden over. The rest of the bowlers; Akhona Mnyaka (1/21), Kgaudise Molefe (1/22 in 5.5 overs), Rolfes (1/22 in seven overs), De Klerk (1/33) and Gerald Coetzee (1/53) claimed a wicket each, but could not remove the obstinate number four, Zaryab.

South Africa will now wait for the result of the New Zealand/Afghanistan quarter-final to see who they will face this Saturday, 27 January in the Plate semi-final also to be held in Christchurch.

 

[MenInG]

A composed 74 not out from Ali Zaryab ensured that the hard work of fast bowlers Muhamad Musa and Shaheen Afridi did not go waste when he guided Pakistan to a three-wicket victory over South Africa in the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup Super League quarter-final in Christchurch.



In front of broadcast cameras, left-handed Zaryab compiled a cautious but attractive 111-ball knock, with five fours, that took two-time champions Pakistan to their target of 190 in 47.5 overs after the pace-duo of Musa and Shaheen had shared five scalps to help restrict South Africa to 189 for nine.



The victory over the 2014 champions means Pakistan will now play the winners of Friday’s quarter-final between India and Bangladesh in the second semi-final in Christchurch on 30 January.



The 2004 and 2006 champions have to be thankful to Zaryab, who was not perturbed even as the Asian side was reduced to 111 for five after all-rounder Jason Niemand gave South Africa a glimmer of a hope with the wickets of captain Hassan Khan and Muhammad Taha.



But in Saad Khan (26, 62b, 3x4), Zaryab found an able partner and added 65 crucial runs for the sixth wicket, which proved to be decisive in a low-scoring affair.



This was Zaryab’s third half-century in the tournament and second successive player of the match award after his 59 in another low-scoring match against Sri Lanka had ensured Pakistan not only qualified for the Super League but eventually topped their group ahead of Afghanistan.



Earlier in the day, Pakistan fast bowlers Musa and Shaheen justified Hassan’s decision to bowl first as they made deep inroads into a strong South Africa’s batting line-up.



Shaheen struck as soon as he was introduced into the attack in the sixth over and along with new-ball bowler Musa, seized the initiative for his team.



Shaheen struck two telling blows as he removed openers Matthew Breetzke (12) and Jiveshan Pillay (14) just as they looked to be batting themselves in. Shaheen got Breetzke to edge one to wicket-keeper Rohail Nazir and then bowled Pillay with an in-swinger that went through taking the inside edge of the bat. The pair of dismissals took Shaheen’s tally in the tournament to 11, the joint-highest along with Canada’s Faisal Jamkhandi.



Musa was not the one to be left behind as he chipped in with the wickets of captain Raynard van Tonder (4) and Hermann Rolfes (5) as South Africa were left reeling at 43 for four in the 15th over. Van Tonder was caught at mid-off off a leading edge while Rolfes was caught behind the wicket off an inner edge.



Musa also dismissed a well-set Makwetu (60, 65b, 4x4, 1x6), out pulling the ball, to further reduce South Africa’s chances of a fightback. A couple of run outs and some good support from the spin bowlers kept Pakistan in tight control of the proceedings.



Pakistan captain Hassan Khan said he was hoping his team would bat better in upcoming matches while praising his players.



“We could have finished it more easily but I think it is a learning experience for all of us. Hopefully, we will learn from the mistakes and not repeat them in the next match.



“The way they (Musa and Shaheen) have bowled throughout and the way they have bowled today is outstanding. I’m relaxed with the boys, the way they are bowling, and really happy and looking forward to other matches today. He (Zaryab) is the wall for our Pakistan U19 team. The way he has batted today and (in the) previous match as well, I hope he will continue his form and do well in the next few matches as well.”



Ali Zaryab said this was the biggest moment of his career so far.



“I was always confident I could win the match and knew I had to aim to bat the full 50 overs. This is a huge win for us, a morale-booster since it was a big knock-out match. The game was broadcast live and the whole world was watching us. There can’t be a better feeling and the whole team is now looking ahead to the semifinals with confidence.



South Africa captain Raynard Van Tonde lamented his team’s inept batting.



“Our top order did not step up today. Our middle order batted us to a decent position but we were some 20 runs short. As a batting unit we have not really stood up. We put ourselves in trouble with the bat in every game,” he said.





Scores in brief:



Super League quarter-finals

Pakistan beat South Africa by three wickets, Hagley Oval, Christchurch

South Africa 189-9, 50 overs (Wandile Makwetu 60, Jason Niemand 36; Muhammad Musa 3-29, Shaheen Afridi 2-30)

Pakistan 190-7, 47.5 overs (Ali Zaryab 74 not out, Saad Khan 26; Jason Niemand 2-31)

Player of the match: Ali Zaryab (Pakistan)



Thursday’s fixtures:

Super League quarter-final:

Afghanistan v New Zealand, Hagley Oval, Christchurch



Plate Championship:

PNG v Ireland (13th place play-off), Rangiora, Christchurch

Namibia v Kenya (13th place play-off), Lincoln No.3, Christchurch

Zimbabwe v Sri Lanka (Plate semi-final 1), Bert Sutcliffe Oval, Christchurch

 

[Angrez Pakistani]

It’s sad to see players like Ali Zaryab not getting a psl contract. I have seen this team play against Aus, NZ, and SA and the one player who performed constantly for Pakistan was Ali Zaryab. I’m afraid he’ll go down the Hammad Azam lane and not Babar Azam lane.

 

[shah_1]

It’s sad to see players like Ali Zaryab not getting a psl contract. I have seen this team play against Aus, NZ, and SA and the one player who performed constantly for Pakistan was Ali Zaryab. I’m afraid he’ll go down the Hammad Azam lane and not Babar Azam lane.

PSL doesn't decide any future

He is highly rated in domestic circuit, played one first class game though he didn't perform well.

 

[Angrez Pakistani]

Not many players are being selected outside psl performances. Imam and Babar are probably the only two players selected outside the psl performances.

 

[Greenstorm]

It’s sad to see players like Ali Zaryab not getting a psl contract. I have seen this team play against Aus, NZ, and SA and the one player who performed constantly for Pakistan was Ali Zaryab. I’m afraid he’ll go down the Hammad Azam lane and not Babar Azam lane.

He is not a t20 batsmen.

 

[ManFan]

I'm Outi-5000. I'll wake up to see PAK lose by 24 runs. An endless nightmare.

Glad to be proven wrong but the same problems that trouble us at the senior level also haunt us at the U-19 's.

 

[Syed1]

Why are all our upcoming batsmen so timid and lacking in flair? I saw the match yesterday and batsman after batsman seemed to be inspired by Misbah or Azhar.


Only the opener Zaid was playing an ODI, the rest were looking to draw the game. Rohail Nazeer is classy but he has the Shehzad problem of crunching good looking shots straight to fielders ball after ball.

 

[DRsohail]

Why are all our upcoming batsmen so timid and lacking in flair? I saw the match yesterday and batsman after batsman seemed to be inspired by Misbah or Azhar.


Only the opener Zaid was playing an ODI, the rest were looking to draw the game. Rohail Nazeer is classy but he has the Shehzad problem of crunching good looking shots straight to fielders ball after ball.

Yes Misban safety first approach have taken the flair from our batting.

 

[Greenstorm]

Why are all our upcoming batsmen so timid and lacking in flair? I saw the match yesterday and batsman after batsman seemed to be inspired by Misbah or Azhar.


Only the opener Zaid was playing an ODI, the rest were looking to draw the game. Rohail Nazeer is classy but he has the Shehzad problem of crunching good looking shots straight to fielders ball after ball.

There were plenty of batsmen with flair in our 2016 u19 world cup squad. Maybe our selectors with 90s mindset thought that since the world cup is in Newzealand, we should send 'see off the shine' type batsmen.

 

[indipper]

Pakistan's love with English conditions continues.