Express bowler Shoaib Akhtar claimed four wickets for 49 runs Friday to help Pakistan clinch a thrilling eight-run win over South Africa in the first one-day international at Gaddafi Stadium.
Akhtar's brilliance overshadowed Boeta Dippenaar's maiden unbeaten one-day international hundred (110 not out) as South Africa was restricted to 269 for six off 50 overs in reply to Pakistan's 277 for six.
Dippenaar gave South Africa a glimmer of hope with his team needing 27 off the last two overs. He took away 14 runs in Akhtar's 10th over and brought up his century with a straight four. However, his 131-ball effort was not enough to see his side through as Mohammad Sami conceded just four off the last over of the innings. Dippenaar's innings included seven fours and two sixes.
PHOTO: EPA
Smith and Dippenaar had laid a solid foundation in the run-chase with a 138-run opening wicket stand in 166 balls. Smith developed cramps in his left leg during his innings off 71 off 99 balls and batted with a runner.
Akhtar returned for his second spell and removed Smith and Jacques Kallis in quick succession. Smith was cramped for space and was caught low by captain Inzamam-ul-Haq while Kallis played on Akhtar's fast delivery.
McKenzie and Dippenaar then put on 101 runs off 108 balls for the third wicket but were seemingly supported by the Pakistani fielders. Off-spinner Shoaib Malik should have got rid off McKenzie -- on 13 and 25. However, Abdul Razzaq first dropped him at mid-off and then Inzamam misjudged a skier.
Akhtar returned for his last three-over burst and claimed two wickets in his eighth over. He deceived McKenzie (62 off 62 balls) off a slower delivery and then uprooted Mark Boucher's leg stumps off a vicious yorker.
Veteran 33-year-old Mushtaq Ahmad, had a nightmare in his comeback match and conceded 65 runs off his 10 overs. The leg-spinner last played in a one-day international three years ago against England in Pakistan. He was included in the side after capturing 105 wickets in this season's English county championship which helped Sussex lift its first tile.
Earlier, all-rounder Shoaib Malik entertained a peaceful crowd of around 22,000 with an explosive half century as Pakistan posted 277 for six off its 50 overs.
Malik, 21, hit a whirlwind unbeaten 82 off 41 balls and accelerated Pakistan's total in the last 10 overs as the home team scored 105 runs. Medium fast Shaun Pollock, who gave away just 25 in his first nine overs, conceded 21 in the 49th over as Malik hit him for two sixes and two boundaries.
Kallis got the same treatment in the last over of the innings as Malik lofted him for three successive sixes, giving Pakistan a strong total to defend.
Malik stepped up the pace with captain Inzamam (37), combining in a 64-run fifth wicket partnership off 52 balls before Inzamam was bowled by Kallis in the 48th over.
After Inzamam won the toss and elected to bat first, Yousuf Youhana (68 off 87 balls) and Yasir Hameed (56 off 85 balls) were involved in an 82-run second wicket stand after Pollock dismissed opener Mohammad Hafeez in the fifth over.
Pollock bowled to a steady line and length and didn't give anything away in his first spell of 6-3-7-1 before Malik ruined his figures at the end of the innings.
South Africa initially canceled the test series after a bombing in Karachi last month, but agreed to the tour when Pakistani authorities promised extra security.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB