PAK vs SA T20 World Cup: South Africa pick team hat-trick as Pakistan give catching practice, video goes viral

T20 World Cup 2022 latest news: On the edge, Pakistan players attempted to hit every ball in the death overs for a six, gifting a team hat-trick to South Africa with some good catching practice. Pakistan played with a high-risk approach against South Africa in their do-or-die Super 12 match against South Africa on Thursday.

With Pakistan’s score at 177/5 and both the batters reaching fifty, South Africa managed to stop the onslaught with a team hat-trick thanks to carefree hitting by Pakistan which eventually turned into catching practice for the Proteas fielders. Anrich Nortje first picked up Shadab Khan’s wicket as Tristan Stubbs took a fine catch on deep mid-wicket.

Fresh out to bat, Mohammad Wasim slashed hard on the first ball he faced. Skipper Tenda Bavuma completed a fine catch after the ball hung in the air above the pitch as Anrich Nortje picked two wickets in the last two deliveries of his over. The final wicket of the team hat-trick came in the next over as Iftikhar Ahmed attempted to dispatch Kagiso Rabada for a maximum. Rilee Rossouw took a brilliant catch on long off. 

A video of the hat-trick uploaded by ICC on Instagram soon went viral:

After early collapse where star openers Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan went for single-digits, Pakistan’s innings were steadied by Mohammad Nawaz and Iftikhar Ahmed. After Nawaz walked back despite being not out, Shadab Khan joined Iftikhar in the middle as both batters exploded for quick 50s. Pakistan achieved a total of 185/9 in their 20 overs.

In reply, South Africa also had early setbacks and were unable to gain much momentum. Despite skipper Tenda Bavuma’s quickfire 36 off 19, South Africa was much behind the DLS par score at 69/4 in 9 overs when rain stopped play. 

Follow live updates from PAK vs SA match here: LIVE | Pakistan vs South Africa Cricket Match Score Updates: Haris out after cameo, PAK lose 2nd wicket; 40/2 in 5 overs