AB de Villiers was out for a golden duck against Pakistan. (Source: Reuters)
South Africa skipper AB de Villiers has always known for his flamboyant and innovative batting but the right-handed batsman tasted a rare failure in the South Africa’s ICC Champions Trophy 2017 clash against Pakistan. De Villiers was dismissed for a golden duck and this was the first occasion in his career when he was out without troubling the scorers on the very first ball that he played.
South Africa who chose to bat started off their innings in a decent manner but lost the plot in the middle only to get reduced to 61/3 when the captain was back in the hut. Spinner Imad Wasim was bowling the 15th over of the innings. While the fourth delivery, he bowled a flat delivery outside off-stump. The Proteas captain tried to smash it through the cover region but only managed to give a catch to Mohammad Hafeez at point position.
AB de Villiers’ troops were later left tottering at 165/8 but a sensible knock of unbeaten 75 runs from David Miller guided his team to a total of 219/8 in allotted 50 overs. For Pakistan it was Hasan Ali who scalped a total of three wickets while Junaid Khan and Imad Wasim bagged two wickets apiece.
South Africa came into this game with a win under their belt against Sri Lanka in their first match while Pakistan faced a defeat against arch rivals India in their first group match. They were defeated by 124 runs (D/L method) in a rain-curtailed match.
Pakistan openers Azhar Ali and Fakhar Zaman began the proceedings well for their side but they were undone by Morne Morkel in the 8th over. Pakistan were reduced to 42/2 after Ali was sent back in the pavilion.
