A RAINY day in Birm­ingham revived Pakis­tan’s faint hopes of progressing in this year’s Champions Trophy. Sarfraz Ahmed’s enigmatic cricket team spread enough rays of sunshine to cut through overcast conditions and brighten the souls of their fans at Edgbaston.

In what seemed a miracle, the lowest ranked team in the competition defeated the highest. The game was won courtesy of the chutzpah of Pakistan’s newer players.

Hasan Ali set the tone with a vibrant performance that brought him three important wickets, including two in two balls to knock South Africa off their feet. His hurrying pace and late swing ravaged South Africa’s middle order, inspiring wilder celebrations with each wicket. He followed it with two catches in the deep. The second, off Kabiso Rabada, rose so steeply that it may as well have kissed the clouds before landing in Hasan’s outstretched hands.

The young bowler roared towards his country’s ecstatic supporters, urging them to raise the volume and carry their team to victory. They needed no second invitation but he offered it anyway. And then he offered a third. After that, Edgbaston was destined to belong to Pakistan.

Hasan had won the match but there was time for a cameo from Fakhar Zaman, Pakistan’s exciting new 27-year old opener, and a refreshing replacement for Ahmed Shehzad whose run in the squad must be under serious threat.

South Africa boast a fearsome bowling attack, spearheaded by Rabada and Morne Morkel. Pakistan’s batting often starts so limply that the opening overs of the chase offered South Africa the best chance of turning a low total into a winning one.

What happened next didn’t surprise those familiar with Fakhar but was a revelation to most of the 18,000 crowd. Anything short was cut square of the wicket with merciless precision and power reminiscent of Saeed Anwar. Fakhar followed this audacity by clouting Rabada to long on. The ball fell short of a six but the psychological blow was bigger.

For once, a Pakistan batsman was prepared to slug it out with the world’s best and stay on his feet long enough to influence the contest. After scoring 31 runs in just 23 balls, a pivotal knock in a low scoring game, Fakhar followed a short ball from Morkel by fending the next ball to slip. He looked glum, cursing himself for curbing his aggressive instincts.

Two balls later, Azhar Ali steered a short ball to Imran Tahir on the third man boundary, and suddenly Pakistan looked vulnerable for the first time in the game. South Africa applied more pressure, drying up runs from both ends. At one point Pakistan had faced 70 balls, fifty of which were dot balls. Here, the dot balls didn’t matter. It was all about survival to keep the Duckworth Lewis rain target manageable. Only a minor acceleration was then required from Babar Azam and Mohammad Hafeez to put Pakistan ahead of the game.

After Hafeez was caught on the fine leg boundary, again of Morkel, Shoaib Malik confirmed his rejuvenation by batting positively to ensure that Pakistan enjoyed a comfortable advantage when the heavens did eventually open. Pakistan then endured a nervous two hours before the umpires decided no further play was possible.

By winning the toss and electing to bat first, South Africa were well set to be favoured by the rain rules provided they mustered a healthy total. Their score of 219 for 8 fell woefully short of what was possible during the better part of the day, on a wicket that was generally low of bounce and offered some assistance to spin bowlers Pakistan replaced Wahab Riaz with Junaid Khan, and although he and Mohammad Amir fought an even contest with South Africa’s openers, the first breakthrough went to a spinner. Imad Wasim won the prized scalps of Hashim Amla and AB De Villiers, and Hafeez, who bizarrely hadn’t bowled against India, got Quinton de Kock.

This was De Villiers’ first golden duck in One-day internationals, an uppish drive carved to Hafeez at backward point. De Villiers was perplexed. Such are the wonders of a spinner who doesn’t turn the ball. Once the spinners had finished, Hasan took over, resuming the excellent line and dangerous shape of his first spell against India on Sunday.

In the final ten overs, where Pakistan had previously suffered, Amir and Junaid supplied excellent control and threat. Indeed, other than that final burst against India, Pakistan’s bowling has been encouraging in this tournament. This time, the bowlers were backed up by an improved fielding performance, and the final target fell comfortably within the limited range of Pakistan’s batsmen.

This was an old school One day International, fashioned by Pakistan’s bowlers and accompanied by an exuberant playing style that Pakistan teams are known for. One win, though, doesn’t gloss over the flaws in Pakistan’s cricket. Of these, inconsistent fielding, unreliable fitness, and inadequate power hitting are the most glaring.

Some of Pakistan’s elder statesmen need to exit the stage. Only a stronger cricket infrastructure and better domestic game will help the coaching staff achieve the quality and consistency that is required to challenge at the highest level. But Pakistan left Birmingham a happier team with hope revived, energised by the sunny play of two new players on a damp day full of the familiar joys of an English summer.

Scoreboard

SOUTH AFRICA:

Q. de Kock lbw b Hafeez 33 H.M. Amla lbw b Imad 16 F. du Plessis b Hasan 26 A.B. de Villiers c Hafeez b Imad 0 D.A. Miller not out 75 J.P. Duminy c Babar b Hasan 8 W.D. Parnell b Hasan 0 C.H. Morris c Hasan b Junaid 28 K. Rabada c Hasan b Junaid 26 M. Morkel not out 0

EXTRAS (LB-1, W-5, NB-1) 7 TOTAL (for eight wkts, 50 overs) 219 FALL OF WKTS: 1-40, 2-60, 3-61, 4-90, 5-118, 6-118, 7-165, 8-213. DID NOT BAT: Imran Tahir. BOWLING: Mohammad Amir 10-0-50-0 (3w); Junaid Khan 9-0-53-2 (1nb, 1w); Imad Wasim 8-0-20-2; Mohammad Hafeez 10-0-51-1; Hasan Ali 8-1-24-3; Shadab Khan 5-0-20-0.

PAKISTAN:

Azhar Ali c Imran b Morkel 9 Fakhar Zaman c Amla b Morkel 31 Babar Azam not out 31 Mohammad Hafeez c Imran b Morkel 26 Shoaib Malik not out 16 EXTRAS (LB-2, W-3, NB-1) 6 TOTAL (for three wkts, 27 overs) 119 FALL OF WKTS: 1-40, 2-41, 3-93. DID NOT BAT: Sarfraz Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Moham­mad Amir, Shadab Khan, Hasan Ali, Junaid Khan. BOWLING: Rabada 7-1-36-0 (1nb); Parnell 4-0-25-0; Morkel 7-1-18-3 (1w); Morris 5-1-22-0 (1w); Imran Tahir 4-0-16-0 (1w).

RESULT: Pakistan won by 19 runs (DLS Method). UMPIRES: R.K. Illingworth (England) and S Ravi (India). TV UMPIRE: H.D.P.K. Dharmasena (Sri Lanka). MATCH REFEREE: B.C. Broad (England) MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Hasan Ali.

Published in Dawn, June 9th, 2017