WC 2015 PAK vs SA: Pakistan choke South Africa to seal 29-run win

Auckland: Pakistan clinched a thrilling 29-run over South Africa at the World Cup on Saturday to put themselves on course for the quarterfinals.

Here is how the action unfolded.

Chasing 232 to win under the Duckworth-Lewis method at Eden Park, Pakistan claimed a third successive victory by bowling out the highly-rated Proteas for 202 despite captain AB de Villiers' valiant 77.

Rahat Ali grabbed a career-best 3-40, Mohammad Irfan (3-52) and Wahab Riaz (3-45) as South Africa, chasing a revised target in 47 overs, were bowled out 33.3 overs.

South Africa also have three wins in five matches.

Check out: Points table

Put into bat by South Africa, Pakistan were 175 for five when a 30-minute rain delay affected their progress and after 3.1 overs they were again halted again by a 18-minute stoppage, which reduced the match to a 47 overs per side contest.

South African chase began on a poor note as de Kock could not find his lost form. Mohammad Irfan dismissed him in the first over to give Pakistan their first breakthrough. Howver, Hashim Amla and Faf du Plessis got together to steady the South African innings.

Read: 'Hashim Amla is never going to last'

However, Rahat Ali broke the partnership which threatened to take the game away from Pakistan by dismissing Faf du Plessis.

Amla was the next man to get out. WahaB Riaz scalped his first wicket and provided Pakistan a hope to rattle South Africa. Wahab Riaz wasted no time in sending back Rossouw to the dressing room.

(Photo: AP)

Then it was Rahat Ali's time to add one more wicket to his account. The left-hand pacer caught David Miller right before the wickets and gave Pakistan their fifth wicket. Miller lasted 13 balls without scoring a run.

Read: ‘It’s South Africa versus Australia in the finals’

Duminy was the sixth wicket to fall for South Africa as Mohammad Irfan got him out. South Africa were 6 down for 102. Dale Steyn provided his skipper some much needed company in the middle as the duo added 36 runs with de Villiers doing majority of the scoring.

The South African superstar then brough up his fifty but while at it he lost Steyn and Abbott as Irfan and Rahat Ali respectively scalped the South African pacers.

(Photo: AP)

Then came in the biggest blow and the one Pakistan wanted the most when Sohail Khan dismissed the lone ranger AB de Villiers. From thereon, Pakistan wasted no time in sealing, what could be termed as a sensational win.

The Eden Park was like a home game for Pakistan and no wonder fans loved it when the Misbah-ul-Haq-led unit defeatd South Africa by 29 runs.

Earlier, Misbah, in between the delays, steadied the innings with a determined 86-ball knock -- his fourth half-century in five World Cup matches.

The Pakistan captain also completed 5,000 one-day international runs when on seven in his 160th match.

He was the 12th Pakistani to reach the landmark but the first from any country to do so without scoring an individual hundred.

Misbah hit four boundaries before he holed out at third man off paceman Dale Steyn who finished with three for 30.

Shahid Afridi made a 15-ball 22 with two sixes and a boundary as he went to 8,000 ODI runs,

Pakistan, who need to win to harbour any realistic hopes of reaching the quarter-finals, brought in Sarfraz Ahmed and Younis Khan in place of the struggling Nasir Jamshed and injured Haris Sohail.

Watch: Did Pakistan lose a 'Mauka' to reach quarterfinals?

Ahmed put on a confident 30-run opening stand with Ahmed Shehzad (18) -- the best opening stand for Pakistan in this tournament -- before Steyn held a smart diving catch to give South Africa the breakthrough.

(Photo: AP)

Shehzad hit Kyle Abbott towards long-on where Steyn, on the run, held a low chance.

Ahmed, did not played in Pakistan's first four pool matches, hit three sixes in one JP Duminy over before he ran himself out while taking a second run in a bid to reach his fifty.

He also hit five boundaries in his run-a-ball knock.

Younis Khan, dropped after poor run of scores in the first three matches, made an attractive 44-ball 37 with four boundaries before falling to soft dismissal off the part-time bowling of Proteas captain AB de Villiers.

Sohaib Maqsood made eight and Umar Akmal 13 as they again failed to turn their potential into performance.

South Africa will qualify for the quarter-finals if they win this match.