ICC Women’s World Cup: With the win, South Africa, who remain unbeaten after two matches, moved to the third spot while Pakistan continued to languish at the bottom of the points table.

The South African women’s team managed to clinch a thrilling victory on Friday against Pakistan as the Asian side lost the plot in the final over. Needing 10 runs to win the match in 6 balls with 2 wickets in hand and the big-hitting Diana Baig in the middle, Pakistan looked to be in a good position to eke out their first win of the tournament. But South African pacer Shabnim Ismail kept her cool to help her team win the match by 6 runs.

Baig managed to get a couple of runs on the first delivery of the final over to bring the equation down to 8 runs needed off 5 deliveries. But Baig’s attempted big hit off the next delivery went high up in the air and Shabnim showed nerves of steel to hold on to a great catch off her own bowling.

Shabnim bowled a dot ball next up and then there was a mix-up which led to a run out as Pakistan were bowled out for 217.

With the win, South Africa, who remain unbeaten after two matches, moved to the third spot while Pakistan continued to languish at the bottom of the points table.

“You have got to love the World Cup, no game is easy. We can take the positives out of the two wins and try and see what we need to work on going ahead. We take it one game at a time and want to play our best cricket,” Luus said after the match.

Put to bat, the in-form Wolvaardt played a masterful 91-ball knock, finding the fence 10 times. The opener was perfectly complimented by skipper Luus (62 off 102 balls) at the other end.

The two held the South African innings together, putting up 89 runs for the third wicket to gain momentum and the team looked set for a huge total.

However, Fatima snapped three wickets in two overs to derail South Africa’s cruising innings and the Proteas were left reeling at 120/5 after 32 overs.

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Chloe Tryon (31) and Trisha Chetty (31) then shared a 55-run stand to help South Africa post a 200 plus score.

Chasing 224 for their first win of the tournament, openers Nahida Khan (40) and Sidra Ameen (12) got Pakistan off to a decent start, adding 26 runs in the first six overs.

However, Ismail ensured the openers don’t run away with the game, extracting an edge off Ameen’s bat to break the opening stand.

She dismissed skipper Bismah Maroof for a duck in the very next ball but was unable to claim a hat-trick as Sohail saw off the delivery.

“We were very clinical with the ball and the key moments we missed cost us, South Africa clinched those moments and they deserve to win,” a disappointed Maroof said later.

Two consecutive maidens, including Ismail’s double-wicket maiden, saw South Africa come back into the game but Sohail and Nahida kept going about their work swiftly, finding boundaries regularly.

They brought up their 50-run stand in the 20th over and at the halfway stage, Pakistan were 129 runs away from a win.

But the partnership was broken by seamer Ayabonga Khaka when she trapped Nahida leg before.

Sohail then combined forces with Nida Dar and Pakistan looking set for their maiden win of the tournament.

A flurry of wickets again put the match in balance but with set batter Dar in the middle, Pakistan had the slight upper hand.

Daina Baig (13) then joined the party, hitting a couple of boundaries to help the required run rate decrease.

However, South Africa held their nerve to first effect Dar’s run out in the penultimate over before Ismail’s last over heroics.

ICC Women’s World Cup, Pakistan vs South Africa Highlights: South Africa Beat Pakistan By 6 Runs In Thriller

PAK-W vs SA-W, Women’s World Cup Highlights: Defending a total of 224, South Africa defeated Pakistan by 6 runs in a thrilling match in the ongoing ICC Women’s World Cup fixture at the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui on Friday.

PAK-W vs SA-W, Women’s World Cup Highlights: Defending a total of 224, South Africa defeated Pakistan by 6 runs in a thrilling match in the ongoing ICC Women’s World Cup fixture at the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui on Friday. Nadia Dar and Omaima Sohail scored half-centuries but Pakistan were bowled out for 217. For South Africa, Shabnim Ismail took three wickets. Earlier, Laura Wolvaardt and captain Sune Luus scored half-centuries to propel South Africa to a total of 223/9. Initially, Pakistan have won the toss and elected to bowl against South Africa. Pakistan had to face defeat in their first two games of the tournament against India and Australia, respectively. Meanwhile, South Africa had defeated Bangladesh in their opening game.(ICC Women’s)