Pakistan crumble to Ntini

Makhaya Ntini’s spell today was simply amazing. Aided by a bouncy pitch offering seam movement he was scarcely playable at times, taking five wickets for 8 runs as South Africa cruised to a 124 -run victory.

Pakistan came out chasing down 214 and didn’t know what had hit them. First to go was Mohammad Hafeez, with one that lifted viciously off a good length and found the edge. That was his second ball, and he followed it up two overs later with the wicket of Imran Farhat. Despite the conditions and the bowling of Pollock and Ntini, Farhat attempted to play aggressively, but skied a top edge to third man.

At the other end, Shaun Pollock bowled an excellent spell which won’t gain any headlines but did gain two wickets. The first of which was Mohammad Yousuf, bowled by a beauty that came back off the pitch. Next on Ntini’s hitlist were Younis Khan and Shoaib Malik, who mistimed a pull to midwicket and gloved one behind to a sprawling Boucher respectively.

His fifth victim was Kamran Akmal who failed to get bat on an incutter and was trapped in front. At 27-6 it was game over. They would advance to 89 thanks to a cameo of 14 from Shahid Afridi and Yasir Arafat’s 27, but they never had any hope of winning after the fireworks of Ntini.

Thinks looked a lot rosier for Pakistan at the end of the 13th over of the South African innings. They had been reduced to 42-5 by Pakistan’s pace attack, in particular Rao Iftikhar Anjum and Umar Gul. They both used the pitch to their advantage to knock over the South African order, but when they were taken out of the attack the penetration could not be sustained.

Instead, Mark Boucher and Justin Kemp took them to a respectable total. With the pitch slightly easier and the field pushed further back, they ticked along, picking off singles and punishing the bad balls. They added a sensible partnership of 131, before both fell late on in the 60s trying to up the run rate. South Africa ended up on 213-8, which would prove to be more than enough.

South Africa 213-8
Mark Boucher 69, Justin Kemp 64
Umar Gul 3-36 Rao Iftikhar Anjum 2-26

Pakistan 89
Yasir Arafat 27
Makhaya Ntini 5-21, Charl Langeveldt 3-20, Shaun Pollock 2-20

South Africa win by 124 runs

Cricket Web Man of the Match: Makhaya Ntini