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Proteas keep hopes alive

Birmingham - The Proteas have romped to a comprehensive 67 run victory over Pakistan in their ICC Champions Trophy Group B clash at Edgbaston.

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GALLERY: Proteas v Pakistan

After Proteas captain, AB de Villiers won the toss and elected to bat, the Proteas stumbled their way to 234/9 in their 50 overs thanks to 81 by man-of-the-match, Hashim Amla.

Amla was dropped by Umar Amin with his score on 7.

Pakistan, like South Africa, got off to a slow start, with debutant, Chris Morris taking a wicket with his fifth ball in ODI cricket, clean bowling Imran Farhat.

Along with fellow new-ball bowler, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, they stifled the Pakistani batsmen, with Morris claiming his second international wicket, removing Mohammed Hafeez to leave the Pakistanis reeling at 18/2 after the mandatory powerplay in the first 10 overs.

Shoaib Malik and Nasir Jamshed provided brief resistance until the drinks break, but with the introduction of JP Duminy into the attack, so too came another wicket as he disposed of Malik after the latter played the ball onto his stumps.

Jamshed was joined at the crease by captain Misbah ul-Haq and the two continued to struggle against the slower bowlers, with Jamshed eventually perishing for 42, caught and bowled by Tsotsobe.

With Ul-Haq at the crease, the Pakistanis still harboured hopes of victory, even after Ryan McLaren took two wickets in one over, first dismissing Amin and then Kamran Akmal as the score ebbed to 134/6.

De Villiers kept rotating his bowlers well, mixing in the spin of Duminy, Robin Peterson and Aaron Phangiso with the seam of McLaren, Morris and Tsotsobe.

It was Tsotsobe who would eventually be rewarded when he was brought back into the attack once more as the lanky seamer claimed the prized scalp of Ul-Haq for 55, trying to slog a slower ball over midwicket, but only finding the hands of Amla.

As their fans slowly left the ground, Pakistan never recovered and lost their last three wickets for 15 runs as Phangiso and McLaren wrapped up the innings to hand the Proteas a 67-run victory, bowling Pakistan out for 167.

McLaren ended with figures 4/19 in eight overs bowled. He was ably backed up by an impressive Morris (2/25) and Tsotsobe (2/23), with Duminy and Phangiso chipping in with a wicket apiece.

Earlier, the Proteas got off to a circumspect start, with openers Amla and Colin Ingram putting up an opening stand of 53.

Amla was then joined at the crease by Faf du Plessis and the two set about consolidating the start.

However, with Du Plessis getting yet another start, he mistimed a short ball by Mohammad Irfan, pulling it to Malik, who was fielding at cover.

De Villiers was next and started brightly, providing the first six of the innings by despatching Saeed Ajmal over the ropes to silence the pro-Pakistan crowd.

De Villiers then opted to take the batting powerplay, but it immediately had an adverse effect as Amla misjudged reverse sweep off Ajmal, spooning off his glove towards short third man, where Hafeez timed his dive well to pluck the catch inches off the turf.

With the score at 145/3, Duminy joined his captain at the crease, still in the batting powerplay and with a solid platform already laid, yet Pakistan continued to restrict the scoring.

The two continued to nudge it about, only managing to hit two boundaries in a 41-run partnership before yet another mid-innings mix-up occurred.

Duminy whipped a full delivery to mid-on and with no run on, De Villiers set off from the other end, getting halfway down the track before slipping as he turned around, allowing Ul-Haq to run across to the bowler's end and whip the bails off the stumps, dismissing his counterpart for 31.

Duminy would soon depart, running himself out for 24 in the end as he too slipped whilst trying to turn around abruptly on the Edgbaston turf after David Miller sent him back, with Ul-Haq succeeding again, this time with a direct hit to the non-striker's end to bring the score to 195/5.

With less than eight overs left, Miller and the incoming  McLaren tried to set up a respectable total, but with the Pakistani spinners achieving great success, the task became increasingly difficult.

Malik then got stuck into the action again when he managed to beat McLaren, managing to convince Billy Bowden to lift his crooked finger.

McLaren unsuccessfully reviewed the decision, even though the impact the ball made to both the pads and stumps seemed questionable, the decision reverted back to the on-field umpire's call.

Peterson and Miller tried to finish off the innings with a flurry, but more run-outs were the order of the day after Miller had been spectacularly caught by Ul-Haq as the Proteas ended on 234/9 in their 50 overs with no less than four run-outs to account for.

The Proteas go into their final match of the group phase against the West Indies on Friday knowing full well that their tournament destiny lies within their own hands, with victory to guarantee them a place in the semi-finals.

Scores:

South Africa:
234-9, 50 overs (H Amla 81)
Pakistan: 167, 45 overs (Misbah-ul-Haq 55, R McLaren 4-19)

Man-of-the-match: Hashim Amla

Teams:
South Africa: Colin Ingram, Hashim Amla, Faf du Plessis, AB de Villiers (capt. & wkt), JP Duminy, David Miller, Ryan McLaren, Robin Peterson, Chris Morris, Aaron Phangiso, Lonwabo Tsotsobe

Pakistan: Imran Farhat, Nasir Jamshed, Mohammad Hafeez, Umar Amin, Misbah-ul-Haq (capt.), Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal (wkt), Wahab Riaz, Saeed Ajmal, Junaid Khan, Mohammed Irfan
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