South Africa levels series vs Pakistan despite Fakhar Zaman's 193
Johannesburg, Apr 4: South Africa held out to level the ODI series 1-1 with a 17-run win over Pakistan on Sunday that was much closer than it should have been because of Fakhar Zaman's brilliant 193 in a losing effort.
Pakistan opener Fakhar's score came from 155 balls and he hit 18 fours and 10 sixes to give South Africa a big scare in the second one-day international.
Pakistan was 205-7 at one stage before Fakhar really got going, but ultimately finished on 324-9 chasing 342 to win at the Wanderers in Johannesburg.
Fakhar was run out off the first ball of the last over in unusual fashion. He was running back to the striker's end for two when he slowed down, thinking the throw from fielder Aiden Markram was going to the other end. It wasn't and a direct hit found Fakhar short.
Even if Fakhar was there to see it through, Pakistan still faced the very steep task of getting 31 off that last over to win.
South Africa's success was down to a thorough batting display, with 80 from opener Quinton de Kock, 92 from new captain Temba Bavuma and half-centuries from Rassie van der Dussen (60) and David Miller (50 not out).
Van der Dussen's 60 came from just 37 balls and Miller's 50 from 27 deliveries to give South Africa late impetus to post its big total of 341-6.
South Africa's bowlers then quickly worked through Pakistan's top order in the chase, with the exception of Fakhar.
Fast bowler Anrich Nortje took 3-63 and the highest score for Pakistan other than Fakhar's 193 was 31 from captain Babar Azam.
The series-deciding final game is on Wednesday.
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Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
