As the partnership went through the gears, it seemed like they were running away with the game. Pakistan needed a spark of inspiration from somewhere and Afridi came back to provide just that by getting Miller to nick one through to Rizwan. It was the opening Pakistan longed for and this allowed the Afridi-Rauf pairing to have a crack at South Africa’s lower order. Wickets kept falling at regular intervals and Mir then struck a telling blow by getting rid of Markram who looked set for a century. That was the breakthrough which completely broke the game open and South Africa started to lose their composure due to the pressure exerted by Pakistan’s bowlers.

Shamsi joined Maharaj with 11 still needed and on a slow surface with variable bounce, those were still a long way away for South Africa. As much as the Proteas needed the duo to apply themselves, they also knew that the rub of the green had to go their way in such a contest. And it did in the final ball of Rauf’s spell. Having struck early in that over with a phenomenal return catch to remove Lungi Ngidi, Rauf had Shamsi pinned on the front pad, only for the umpire to rule it not out. Pakistan reviewed and ball tracking had it to clipping leg stump. South Africa had survived albeit by the barest of margins. In hindsight, that was the moment which decided the game as Maharaj and Shamsi then kept their cool to see the side through.

The option to bowl Mohammad Nawaz at the end instead of a wrist spinner in Mir to the tail will be one that will be debated. Nevertheless, Pakistan made a spectacular game of defending this under-par score. However, they only have themselves to blame having failed to utilise 20 deliveries from their allotted 50 overs. On one of the better batting surfaces at Chepauk, most of the Pakistan batters got starts but failed to kick on to make a substantial score. Skipper Babar Azam and Saud Shakeel got to fifties but again weren’t able to bat deep into the innings. Losing wickets at regular intervals meant that Pakistan weren’t able to dominate proceedings against the South African bowlers.

Shamsi had a great day with a four-fer to his name. It’s not just the wickets but his aggressive intent to pick wickets that paid dividends. Marco Jansen had set the tone early on with the twin strikes of the openers in the first Powerplay. The duo were nagging in their spells, Jansen more so, as Pakistan failed to register healthy partnerships barring the one between Shakeel and Shadab. The duo batted with refreshing intent and while they were there, a total of 290-300 seemed on the cards. But once Shamsi broke that partnership, the innings nosedived in dramatic fashion as Pakistan were bowled out well inside their allotted overs. In a game that went right down to the wire, Babar’s men would rue those extra 10-20 runs which could have made a lot of difference.