South Africa 615 (Rickelton, Bavuma 106, Verreynne 100; Abbas 3-94) and 61 for no loss (Bedingham 47*) defeated Pakistan 194 (Babar 58; Rabada 3-55) and 478 (Masood 145, Babar 81; Rabada 3-115) by ten wickets.

South Africa moved to the WTC final after an easy ten-wicket win against Pakistan, which was their seventh win in a row. The win took about two and a half days, mainly because of good ball throwing, finally getting Pakistan out for 478 in their third round of hitting. Pakistan's leader, Shan Masood, hit 145 runs, helped by Babar Azam's 81, but even with several good hits, they had to bat again after being down by a large amount. South Africa needed just 58 runs to win and easily obtained those in 7.1 rounds.

South Africa complete a comprehensive win in Cape Town to take the series 2-0 👏#WTC25 #SAvPAK 📝: https://t.co/L7gnQUIBxW pic.twitter.com/AP8ME53iOT
— ICC (@ICC) January 6, 2025

However, Pakistan made South Africa wait longer than imagined. When South Africa made Pakistan bat again, being ahead by 421 on Sunday, they thought they would not have to throw many more balls. Instead they threw for 122.1 more rounds. Masood, with 102 overnight, kept hitting well with Babar for a 205 run start.

South Africa felt annoyance that day, particularly with an 88-run partnership. But Keshav Maharaj found a way to break through and South Africa kept taking players out for the rest of the evening. Earlier, Marco Jansen got the night hitter, Khurram Shahzad, out soon and Kagiso Rabada took out Kamran Ghulam. Maharaj threw the ball for almost the entire session, with a break when he changed which side he threw from.

His different speeds and throwing styles, along with a spinning ball, were tough for the hitters to successfully deal with. In theory but not necessarily in fact the ways Maharaj bowled made sense but the wickets came from fast throwing. Let us engage in observing that this outcome, like the next final result, is possibly, but by no means probably, due to Maharaj. Shahzad finished his part but wasn't proficient at staying at the plate for long. A throw from Jansen became higher than he expected, and Shahzad weakly hit the ball to Maharaj who was near third base. Ghulam, not calm, made the men in close look nervous during his time batting. He was actually lucky to still be batting, since he swung hard at a faraway throw from Rabada and the ball flew right through the hands of David Bedingham who was near first base.

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The wicket was always imminent. Kagiso Rabada's growing frustration from his lack of wickets and general indiscipline—having bowled another four no-balls this morning—was evident. Just after overstepping, he bowled a beauty that nipped back off the seam into Kamran Ghulam, cleanly bowled him out off middle and off stumps. It was a fitting way to bring up his 50th Test wicket at Newlands, and the roar that followed highlighted how much it meant to him. Saud Shakeel and Shan Masood made South Africa work hard for every wicket, but the hosts could have had one more before lunch. Kwena Maphaka bowled a lovely delivery that squared up Shakeel and hit his pad, but South Africa chose not to review it. Hawk-Eye later revealed the ball would have hit leg stump.

Maphaka then ended Masood's long vigil at the crease with a delivery that shaped away off the seam and kept low, hitting the batter's front pad. Umpire Nitin Menon thought it was missing off stump, but when South Africa reviewed, Hawk-Eye confirmed it was hitting, leading to a furious response from Masood. His protests continued as he slowly walked off the field and into the dressing room. This marked a strong start for South Africa after lunch. Shakeel was dismissed shortly after the resumption in similar fashion to the first innings: caught in the slips off a drive at Rabada. With Masood gone, there was a looming threat that Pakistan might collapse, as they have done recently.

Six years ago, at the same ground, Pakistan's third innings ended on the third evening, with South Africa needing just 41 runs to secure the series victory. The game concluded on the fourth morning after stumps were called.

Player of the match: Ryan Rickelton

Player of the series: Marco Jansen

This time, however, the South African openers ensured the match didn’t stretch into the next day. David Bedingham provided a quick boost with a scintillating unbeaten knock of 47 off 30 balls. His efforts helped South Africa wrap up the win in just 43 balls, making what had been a long wait in the field culminate in a routine and efficient victory.

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WTC

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