Abdul Razzaq

When Zulqarnain Haider was run out of the first ball of the 45^th over, Pakistan still needed 59 runs to win of 35 balls. “Not impossible in this day and age of T20,” one would say! But with only 3 wickets remaining, the game was as good as over. Not for a man named Abdul Razzaq! He smashed 58 of those runs as Pakistan scrambled home to a 1 wicket victory with 1 ball to spare. Johan Botha, the stand-in skipper was left mesmerized and helpless as Razzaq played a blitzkrieg, scoring 109 of 72 balls which included 10 monstrous hits over the fence.

South Africa, batting first for the first time on the tour, didn’t disappoint as Amla continued his rich vein of form scoring 65 of 62 balls. One look at Colin Ingram and you can be forgiven for mistaking him an experienced campaigner as the 25 year old left handed batsman notched up his second century in only his 5^th ODI. He was ably supported by A.B. De Villiers who looked a bit patchy during his 29 and a final flourish from Duminy (53* of 43) helped South Africa put on a formidable 286/8.

Pakistan’s top order, as has been the case throughout the campaign, failed yet again as they slumped to 70/4 by the 19^th over. Fawad Alam (48) and skipper Afridi (49) stitched together a partnership as Pakistan clawed their way back in the game. But when Afridi and Alam fell, all looked lost until Razzaq took the match into his own hands. And the rest as they say is history as Pakistan leveled the series 1-1 while South Africa experienced a defeat after 10 consecutive victories.

Tags: Abdul Razzaq, Abdur Razzaq, Cricket, ODI Cricket, ODI Series, Pakistan, South Africa, Zulqarnain Haider