Proteas suffer the ‘Pink Day’ blues

All great streaks, like good things, have to come to an end and so did SA’s proud “Pink Day” record at the hands of Pakistan’s rampant bowling attack.

Usman Shinwari’s four wickets in six balls not only wrecked SA’s fragile lower order, but gave Pakistan an easy eight-wicket win with 112 balls remaining.

SA were bowled out for 164 in 41 overs to lose their first “Pink Day” ODI in eight attempts.

The series is now square at two-all and it’s a winner-takes-all contest in Cape Town on Wednesday evening.

The Proteas let down a capacity crowd that was nicely clad in pink, but at some point their batting frailty had to be exposed.

They got out of the 80/5 jail in Durban and were smart enough to use the weather to their advantage in Centurion on Friday.

Their luck had to run out and Pakistan’s bowling attack  is not the type to waste helpful conditions.

They also put in a commanding performance in the absence of their captain, Sarfraz Ahmed, who copped a four-game ban for his racist remarks to Andile Phehlukwayo in the second ODI in Durban.

Shoaib Malik, the only active international cricketer who played in the 1990s, led the side admirably.

The Pakistan Cricket Board were disappointed by the International Cricket Council’s decision but the players didn’t let them down.

Pakistan’s chase was easier than snatching candy from a kid with partnerships from Fakhar Zaman/Imam-ul-Haq (70) and Babar Azam/Imam (94) giving them the deserved win set up by their superb bowling and SA’s insipid batting.

Imam (77) scored his second 50 of the series but didn’t see out the innings.

It’s difficult to win games when you lose three wickets in an over but  losing eight wickets for 45 runs in 15.1 overs is an easy way of surrendering a proud record.

That’s what happened  when SA  crashed from 119/2 to 164 all out. It was shambolic stuff.

The start itself, albeit on a difficult surface softened up by heavy rain late on Saturday, was dodgy.

Quinton de Kock (0) didn’t trouble the scorers  before Shaheen Afridi (2/24) nailed him leg before while Reeza Hendricks (2) feathered Afridi to Mohammad Rizwan to leave SA tottering at 18/2 after five overs.

Hashim Amla (59) and Faf du Plessis (57) did the heavy lifting that was expected of them against some very good bowling.

Their running between the wickets left a lot to be desired but somehow they found various ways to transfer pressure.

Their 50-run stand came in 62 balls while the century mark was raised in 121. Their 101-run stand was the lone feast in the batting famine.

Was the stand a good enough platform? Maybe, but Shadab Khan (2/42) triggered the slide when he lulled Du Plessis, whose 50 came off 73 deliveries, into a mistimed slog-sweep that Mohammad Hafeez pouched at deep square-leg.

The spinner constriction continued in earnest and four overs later Amla played around an Imad Wasim (1/36) arm ball.

A score of 130/4 didn’t look like a spot of bother but SA’s tail is long and unlike in Durban, there was enough assistance in the pitch for Pakistan to go for the kill.

Indeed they did as David Miller (4) was pinned leg before by Mohammad Amir (1/26) two  overs later but the real damage was done by the unheralded Shinwari (4/35).

The nippy left-arm seamer killed the contest in the 38th over when he had Rassie van der Dussen (18) and Andile Phehlukwayo (11) gifting catches to Rizwan and Babar Azam while Dale Steyn (0) was sandwiched in between those dismissals when Shinwari castled him.

Shinwari was correctly denied a hat-trick by umpire Bongani Jele in the same, 38th, over after removing Van der Dussen and Steyn in consecutive balls but Phehlukwayo’s exit  with the first ball of the 40th over sealed the hosts’ fate.