Key events
35th over: Pakistan 189-5 (Saud Shakeel 28, Shadab Khan 26) Maharaj, stubble, worries in. Gorgeous shot by Saud Shakeel, quick steps down the pitch and leans the ball over long off for four. In those gorgeously canopied and shaded stands, the crowd are goaded into enthusiasm by the DJ.
34th over: Pakistan 183-5 (Saud Shakeel 23, Shadab Khan 25) South Africa flying through these middle overs, Shamsi in spearmint boots. Shadab has tasted blood, takes what looks like too large a stride forward, but he knows what he’s doing, sends the ball high and over mid off for six.
33rd over: Pakistan 174-5 (Saud Shakeel 21, Shadab Khan 18) Shadab ramps Maharaj for a cheeky four. Then slams the front foot and pulls him, with vim, for SIX. Delicious intent.
32nd over: Pakistan 148-5 (Saud Shakeel 20, Shadab Khan 7) Had to answer the door and find a dog towel, but in the meantime Pakistan squeezed eight from Shamsi’s over, including a boundary for Shakeel.
31st over: Pakistan 148-5 (Saud Shakeel 14, Shadab Khan 3) Shadab restarts after the drinks break by opting for an impossible single -swiftly sent back by Shakeel. He then pulls and misses twice in succession – this has the air of an innings limping to a conclusion. Runs at last, a squirt, four reduced to two by some superb fielding on the rope by VDD.
30th over: Pakistan 148-5 (Saud Shakeel 14, Shadab Khan 3) Shamsi, animated, nods here, points there. Three singles, three dot balls and a DRINKS break.
29th over: Pakistan 148-5 (Saud Shakeel 13, Shadab Khan 1) Shadab must face Jansen immediately, off the mark with an unconvincing single. A wide brings some relief for Pakistan, South Africa’s eleventh extra, and Shakeel picks up four from the last ball.
28th overs: Pakistan 141-5 (Saud Shakeel 8, Shadab Khan 0) Babar can’t believe it, and a mega blow for Pakistan, whose innings hits the wobble stage.
WICKET! Babar Azam c de Kock b Shamsi 50 (Pakistan 141-5)
There’s a splinter of a spike on the replay – fabulous review by Bavuma and great take behind the stumps.
27.5 overs: Pakistan 141-4 (Babar Azam 50, Saud Shakeel 8) Shakeel sweeps the square-shouldered Shamsi, stocky for a spinner, touch of the bar bouncer in his tread. Four fizzes over the rope. Babar kneels down for the sweep but is beaten. It looks as if he misses it, de Kock isn’t that excited, but with one second left, South Africa go for the REVIEW…..
Fifty for Babar Azam!
27th over: Pakistan 136-4 (Babar Azam 50, Saud Shakeel 3) A nice reception from the good crowd for Babar’s fifty, which he picks up with a single off the boot, but he barely raises his bat. Saud can only pick up a single from five balls of Ngidi.
26th over: Pakistan 134-4 (Babar Azam 49, Saud Shakeel 2) A no ball, but Babar can only take a single off the free hit. Another rebuild required here from Pakistan, with nearly half the innings left.
WICKET! Iftikhar c Klaasen b Shamsi 21 (Pakistan 129-4)
Going for glory on one leg, but hits too high and not long enough, safely into the hands of Klaasen on the rope. Iftikhar punches the air with happy fury. Iftikhar bangs his bat on the ground in disgust.
25th over: Pakistan 129-3 (Babar Azam 47, Iftikhar 21) Ngidi, who has spent sometime off the field, returns, and immediately leaks runs as Iftikhar loops him through midwicket for four. The crowd bubble at the prospect of a Babar fifty, but he flirts with danger dabbing behind only just short of the keeper. At the half way stage, Pakistan’s run rate is 5.16.
24th over: Pakistan 124-3 (Babar Azam 47, Iftikhar 16) Singles, singles: Babar lucky to escape trying to flambe a legbreak, and missing.
23rd over: Pakistan 120-3 (Babar Azam 45, Iftikhar 14) Maharaj again. A mix-up in the middle brings a run-out chance, but Babar is well in, bat grounded to the text-book . A superb bit of fielding by Bavuma denies Babar a single, but he rocks back next ball and roasts the ball over midwicket for SIX.
22nd over: Pakistan 113-3 (Babar Azam 38, Iftikhar 14) Shamsi, green towel in his trouser elastic, left arm slingy ation. Only singles again for Pakistan. Where will they tuck in?
21st over: Pakistan 111-3 (Babar Azam 37, Iftikhar 13) Iftikhar hot steps down the pitch and flambes Maharaj into the blue and over the boundary. A fistful of singles follow.
20th over: Pakistan 102-3 (Babar Azam 36, Iftikhar 5) Apologies, Coetzee does not have a pony tail, it is the tail of his headband hanging off the back of his head. The cameras are reluctant to give us close ups of the bowlers today. One sails past Babar and is called wide over his head, another is very wide on the legs, Babar gets a bat to it but just for a single. No fireworks from the promoted Iftikhar yet.
19th over: Pakistan 97-3 (Babar Azam 34, Iftikhar 3) Babar eyes up Maharaj and sizzles his first through midwicket for four. A handful of singles in the sun.
18th over: Pakistan 90-3 (Babar Azam 28, Iftikhar 2) Coetzee, headband, baby ponytail, low-kneed approach, in the build of Klusener. Pakistan can only manage two.
“I am actually at the M.A Chidambaram stadium watching the match,” writes Arunachalam Vaidyanathan, “and have to say am pleasantly surprised by the atmosphere. The crowd (obviously) is rooting for South Africa but Pakistan have a fair but of support too especially for Babar. Just hope for a close game.”
That’s good to hear.
17th over: Pakistan 88-3 (Babar Azam 27, Iftikhar 1) Just two from it.
16th over: Pakistan 86-3 (Babar Azam 26, Iftikhar 0) A huge blow for Pakistan, Rizwan was in the mood for irritating kingdom building. Iftikhar walks out, shovelled up the order with instructions, presumably, to get hitting. The ball before Rizwan was done by a heavy bouncer, Babar nearly went too, pulling blind, eyes down, bat skywards, for a lucky single.
WICKET! Rizwan c de Kock b Coetzee 31 (South Africa 86-3)
The big one! Rizwan flies at a bouncer but can only top edge the short ball behind. Coetzee roars.
15th over: Pakistan 84-2 (Babar Azam 25, Rizwan 30) Rizwan pushes the door ajar, plants his front leg, lowers his head, and sweeps Maharaj against the spin for six. Glorious.
14th over: Pakistan 77-2 (Babar Azam 25, Rizwan 23) Markram trots in. Pakistan need to milk him. A delicate late-lunch cut drags the fielder all the way to the rope and brings Rizwan three. Ah, the reason Rabada is not playing because he has a lower-back spasm.
13th over: Pakistan 71-2 (Babar Azam 23, Rizwan 19) Maharaj keeps it tight – just one from it.
12th over: Pakistan 70-2 (Babar Azam 22, Rizwan 19) Spin from both ends. Babar sweeps at a wide one from Markram and gets a kiss of a touch for four. On commentary, Waqar Younis says how bad Babar generally is at sweeping “likes the feel of the full face of the bat.”
11th over: Pakistan 63-2 (Babar Azam 16, Rizwan 18) Maharaj replaces Jansen: Babar taps a single, Rizwan doesn’t wait to get his eye in, immediately sweeps him for four.
10th over: Pakistan 58-2 (Babar Azam 15, Rizwan 14) I take it back about the compress, Rizwan does one of those cross legged dance swipes, designed for maximum irritation, and fires Markram over cover for four.
9th over: Pakistan 53-2 (Babar Azam 14, Rizwan 10) Babar and Rizwan start the rebuild, and it looks as if Babar has, temporarily at least, managed to apply .a cold compress to Rizwan. A sloppy old misfield by Bavuma in the covers, turns a single into three, and then Rizwan drives Jansen gorgeously for four. Time for a bowling change?
8th over: Pakistan 44-2 (Babar Azam 11, Rizwan 5) Jansen calms things down with a calm over containing just two singles.
7th over: Pakistan 42-2 (Babar Azam 10, Rizwan 4) Rizwan, with immaculate suncream lipstick, is dropped first ball -if it can be called that- as he pushes forward and the leaping Jansen can’t hold on with outstretched hand in his follow through. Rizwan throws the kitchen sink at the next, an outrageous hoik that is aimed towards long on but instead flies over the keeper for four. All sorts of posturing follows between Rizwan and Jansen, and Rizwan scatters more tinder by signalling that Jansen’s final ball should have been a wide.
WICKET! Imam-ul-Haq c Klassen b Jansen 12 (Pakistan 38-2)
Done by the slower ball! Furious with himself, flies for the drive but can only edge to deep slip. And Jansen has both openers in his pocket.
6th over: Pakistan 38-1 (Babar Azam 10, Imam ul Haq 12) South Africa handing out a few sweeties here: Ngidi throws in a wide, then a another juicy one on the legside tucked into by Imam, ferociously cut to the rope. An overthrow brings one, then Babar rises onto his toes to cut four more.
5th over: Pakistan 28-1 (Babar Azam 6, Imam ul Haq 7) Enter Babar, who is kindly greeted by two no balls and two free hits from Jansen. One is clattered through midwicket for four, the other shovelled through extra cover for a couple.
WICKET! Shaffique c Ngidi b Jansen 9 (Pakistan 20-1)
Shaffique eyes up and takes on the short ball, but hasn’t got enough behind it and Ngidi gracefully takes the catch on the rope in the shade of the stands..
4th over: Pakistan 20-0 (Abdullah Shaffique 9, Imam ul Haq 7) A fierce cut by Shaffique off Ngidi’s first ball brings a boundary. Three more off the boots, then an almost dangerously sharp single. The over concludes with a nasty bouncer, but nine from it.
A gorgeous looking stadium – two of the stands at least are multi-storied, topped by white roofs – like something a child might make out of playmobil to raise their spirits on a dreary morning.
3rd over: Pakistan 11-0 (Abdullah Shaffique 1, Imam ul Haq 6) A bouncer from Jansen flies over the top of Shafique, and de Kock’s outstretched glove, to the rope. Byes given not wides. Shaffique belatedly off the mark with a single.
2nd over: Pakistan 6-0 (Abdullah Shaffique 0, Imam ul Haq 6) The stockier Ngidi, black headband sitting around his head like a belt, charges in. Pakistan’s innings gets going with a cut for two by Imam, followed by four whipped off his heels from the last ball,
1st over: Pakistan 0-0 (Abdullah Shaffique 0, Imam ul Haq 0 ) Marco Jansen stretches to his full six foot eight, a dancer’s approach and a delicate delivery. Lovely length straight away, and a maiden to start.
Anthems over, here come the players!
We get an overhead glimpse of the stadium, which is gloriously only a puma’s leap from the beach, looking out over the Bay of Bengal. Here comes Shaun Pollock with the trophy, as the teams mill about before the anthems.
An early email. “Good morning Tanya.” Hello Krishnamoorthy v!
“Could you tell me if you are serious about the shoulder pads? (I am not seeing any live coverage, trusting the ever reliable OBO)
“A XXL tee would have been cheaper if the purpose was to hide that paunch.”
I only had a five second glimpse but he had suspiciously square and large shoulders to go alongside the XXL-size personality.
It looks hot out there, the crowd fanning themselves with their six signs. Bavuma said that he too would have batted first on a tasty-looking pitch.
Teams
Two changes for Pakistan: Hasan Ali is ill and is replaced by ,Mohammad Wasim; Mohammad Nawaz replaces Usama Mir.
Pakistan XI: Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Wasim, Haris Rauf.
Three changes for South Africa: Bavuma returns, alongside Shamsi and Ngidi – Hendricks, Coetzee and, to some surprise, Rabada sit in the dugout.
South Africa XI: Temba Bavuma (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Tabraiz Shamsi, Gerald Coetzee, Lungi Ngidi
Pakistan win the toss and will bat!
Ravi Shastri in shades and shoulder pads introduces the captains. Babar calls correctly and choses to bat first in a sultry Chennai, and says he is is feeling comfortable about his batting and looking forward to being out there.
Preamble
Good morning! Now that England have toppled their crown into India’s equivalent of the Wash, time to turn to one of the strong pretenders: South Africa. The men in green and sand have lost just one of their games – an embarrassment by the Netherlands – and are purring sweetly toward the semi-finals.
All the cogs are freshly oiled, all the springs tightly sprung, with captain Temba Bavuma returning after his replacement Reeza Hendricks did just dandy against England: the runs, they just keep on flowing.
They play the other men in green, Pakistan, languishing in sixth and with three defeats in their recent out box. Pakistan have also been hit by an ominous vote of confidence by the board – who urged fans to continue supporting them on the one hand, while with the other putting the boot into captain Babar Azam and coach Inzamam ul Haq. Pakistan need Babar to suddenly fire, alongside the strangely subdued seam attack – another loss and they would be relying on a succession of banana skins hitting all the teams above them. A team that historically thrives on unlikely comebacks, Pakistan’s campaign proper must start now.
Play starts at 9.30am BST, the forecast in Chennai is for sun and cloud – 31 degrees and with high humidity.
Sophie Anderson, a UK-based writer, is your guide to the latest trends, viral sensations, and internet phenomena. With a finger on the pulse of digital culture, she explores what’s trending across social media and pop culture, keeping readers in the know about the latest online sensations.
