Temba Bavuma, the captain of South Africa, admitted that his team was fortunate to secure a one-wicket victory over Pakistan in a thrilling finish to their ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 match in Chennai on Friday.
South Africa seemed to be cruising towards a comfortable win at 206-4 while chasing a target of 271, but Aiden Markram’s dismissal for an impressive 91 gave Pakistan a glimmer of hope.
The last pair of Keshav Maharaj (seven not out) and Tabraiz Shamsi (four not out) had to score the final 11 runs to secure South Africa’s fifth win in six games.
Bavuma acknowledged that his team was lucky to emerge victorious.
“I do think we could have been more clinical in our run chase,” said Bavuma. “We were fortunate in certain situations, and we did allow Pakistan to get back into the game.”
Aiden Markram’s partnership of 70 with David Miller (29) for the fifth wicket lifted South Africa from 136-4, but they then lost six wickets for just 54 runs.
Pakistan has now lost four out of six matches and their chances of reaching the semi-finals depend on winning their remaining three matches and hoping for favorable results from other games.
Bavuma described the tense moments towards the end of the match, with players jumping around in excitement.
“It was chaotic with everyone jumping around,” said the South Africa captain. “We were all on the edge of our seats. There were various opinions on how we should approach the run chase, but in the end, Keshav and Shamsi got the job done for us.”
Bavuma emphasized the need for wise decision-making when chasing targets.
“Luck was on our side,” he said. “But as I mentioned, it’s important for us to have discussions about our game plan and how we approach these run chases.”
South Africa has won four matches while batting first, but they suffered a setback against the Netherlands when they failed to chase a target of 246 runs.