Lack of killer instinct almost cost Pakistan the match in their 1st ODI against South Africa yet again.
Pakistan has made it a habit of gifting the opposition the advantage whenever they are in the driving seat. The same thing was on display from the Pakistani side in today’s match, both with the ball and bat.
South Africa had a great start to the innings, and they were looking at a score of 300+ before spinners pulled things back. Then Naseem and Abrar brought about a batting collapse by the Proteas, reducing them to 228 for 8.
This is where the Pakistani side has lost control in the recent past. The bowlers cannot get the tail-enders out and end up conceding more runs than they should.
Today, it was Corbin Bosch who bashed the ball all around the ground and took the Proteas to a competitive total of 263.
Most teams have specialist death bowlers who are nightmares for the tail-enders to face, such as Starc and Bumrah. Both of these bowlers have a good yorker, which the tail-enders have a hard time defending.
Shaheen bowls a good yorker, but his lines and lengths are all over the place when he bowls to the tail-enders. He got Bosch out eventually, but not before he had done some considerable damage.
This is not the first time that it has happened. Just a week back, Pakistan lost the 2nd test match the same way when South Africa’s last two wicket partnerships put on more than 200 runs.
Pakistan conceded the advantage there too and ended up losing the match. This is something the bowling unit needs to work on.
When Pakistan started their chase, they were cruising at one point before, thanks to the opening partnership between Saim and Fakhar.
They then lost three quick wickets, bringing South Africa back into the game. Lately, these batting collapses have resulted in many losses for the Pakistani side.
But today, Rizwan and Salman held the fort, putting on a 91-run partnership to take Pakistan closer to victory.
When Rizwan got out, Pakistan needed only 68 runs to win from 70 balls, which should have been a walk in the park.
Hussain Talat played well alongside Salman and got Pakistan within touching distance before another batting collapse.
They lost another 3 wickets in quick succession, giving South Africa a chance to steal a win when Pakistan needed 10 from 7 balls.
Nawaz held his nerves and hit Ferreira for a six to bring the chase under control.
He too lost his wicket in the final over, but Naseem got them over the line with 2 wickets in hand and 3 balls to spare.
It shouldn’t have come down to this, but Pakistan has made it a habit of not killing the game when they are bossing it.
They let the opposition into the match with some shoddy batting and bowling in the end overs, and then lost their nerve, gifting them the match.
They need to work on this so that it doesn’t happen in the future. Because on another day they might lose from such a position.
