World Cup Social Pavilion: Pakistan send South Africa packing at Lord's as Mohammad Amir, Wahab Riaz, Shadab Khan make merry

Pakistan team were back to winning ways against South Africa at Lord’s. After their disastrous outing against India at Old Trafford and a week of humiliation, criticism and intense scrutiny by their fans and media, the team bounced back in style with some measured performances. The top order chipped in with useful knocks and notched up a score of 308.

In reply, Hashim Amla was dismissed in the second over and the chase never got going. The Proteas eventually ended up with 259 for the loss of 9 wickets in 50 overs, losing the match by 49 runs.

It was the first match at the ‘Home of Cricket’ for #CWC19 and the Pakistan team were up for it by the looks of it.

The Pakistan team, for once, didn’t appear to be the least bothered by their fan’s criticism off the field. As the saying goes, ‘It’s just a game of cricket’, they were probably raring to go again and prove their fans wrong.

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Pakistan fans were out in full force and got behind their team after what has been a tumultuous campaign made even worse by their loss against India.

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“We have six games starting today, and we’re gonna win all six!” fans, do you share the optimism of these guys? ( You might want to watch till the end to know why they’re at Lord’s ) #CWC19 #PAKvSA #PakistanCricket #Fans #Lords #WorldCup2019 A post shared by ESPN Cricinfo (@espncricinfo) on Jun 23, 2019 at 2:42am PDT

When the tournament began, the fixtures and the results of the earlier matches were similar to that of the 1992 one. The fans surely believed then and they surely believe now.

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And as the Pakistani innings got going, the fans played their part to perfection.

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The fans of South African team were not far behind too. But in the end, it wasn’t enough. Here’s the former skipper of South Africa trying out his luck before the match.

Mohammed Amir, Shadab Khan and Wahab Riaz starred with the ball for Pakistan and kept the Proteas in check throughout their innings.

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A post shared by Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) (@therealpcb) on Jun 23, 2019 at 11:07am PDT

Some former and current players of Pakistan cricket team sent in congratulatory messages to the team after their win against South Africa.

Pakistan fighting back with a spirit. Fielding lapses need to be paid attention to. Well done guys.
Now on to the all important match against New Zealand on Wednesday. #PAKvSA #CWC19

— Shoaib Akhtar (@shoaib100mph) June 23, 2019

Aftr a brave decision of batting 1st openers gave a steady start..@iHarisSohail Man champions inn.
U were fantastic 2day👏👏👏@iamamirofficial & @76Shadabkhan was brilliant 2 watch,supported well by @simadwasim with his tight sets

Superb win🇵🇰🇵🇰🇵🇰#WeHaveWeWill #CWC19

— Ahmad Shahzad 🇵🇰 (@iamAhmadshahzad) June 23, 2019

congratulations to team Pakistan @TheRealPCB a very strong comeback..brilliant partnership between @babarazam258 & Haris....treat to watch beautiful batting haris.well bowled @WahabViki @iamamirofficial @iShaheenAfridi @76Shadabkhan good luck everyone #CWC19

— Kamran Akmal (@KamiAkmal23) June 23, 2019

Pakistan’s win also meant that South Africa became the second team to be knocked out of the tournament.

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Today, it will be Bangladesh taking on Afghanistan. Bangladesh will be looking to move closer to the semi-final spot while Afghanistan, by their own admission are here to play the spoilsport.

WATCH: #Afghanistan skipper Gulbadin Naib warns #Bangladesh "we have drowned, we will take you down with us" #CWC19 #AFGvBAN 😯 pic.twitter.com/vEoUaLxPtW

— Sport360° (@Sport360) June 24, 2019

Roll on, #CWC19.

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