Proteas beat Pak in Singapore final

A whirlwind partnership by Gary Kirsten and Nicky Boje paved the way for a 93-run South African victory over Pakistan in the final of the Singapore Challenge cricket tournament on Sunday.

In a rain-shortened match, South Africa made 197 for seven at the end of their 35 overs, with a further 17 runs added under the Duckworth-Lewis system for a rain-disrupted innings, leaving Pakistan a target of 215.

But the task was beyond Pakistan, who were unable to recover from a middle-order collapse and were all out for 121 in the 29th over.

Boje, the man of the match, was promoted up the order to join Kirsten when South Africa were struggling at 29 for two after 10 overs.

The left-handed pair put on 40 in their first five overs together, before a two-hour rain interruption, then returned to the wicket to continue their no-holds barred attack.

When Azhar Mahmood bowled Kirsten to break the partnership, they had put on 97 runs in 82 balls and lifted the run rate to nearly 5.5.

Kirsten, the man of the series, scored 62 off 77 balls, while Boje, who was out soon afterwards, faced 48 balls for his 54 which included six fours and a six.

Daryll Cullinan, who had been out of sorts in the early matches in the series, found form at the right time for South Africa and was unbeaten on 31 from 23 balls at the end.

The batsmen were particularly heavy on Abdur Razzaq and Ashar Mahmood. Although Razzaq did pick up two wickets he went for 54 in his seven overs and Mahmood took one for 48.

Fielding lapses hurt Pakistan, with Cullinan and Boje both surviving chances.

On a slow outfield because of the rain, 215 runs at over six an over was always going to be difficult for Pakistan.

Trying to force the pace cost them early wickets with Imran Nazir out in the second over, Yousuf Youhana in the sixth and Salim Elahi in the 10th.

Saeed Anwar and Ijaz Ahmed put on 39 for the fourth wicket before Saeed was run out for 24, starting a middle-order collapse in which three wickets fell in the space of 11 balls for just two runs, and Pakistan never recovered.

"In the past few years we've played badly in finals, so it's nice to play well when it really counts," South African captain Shaun Pollock said.

"We decided that it was easier to score up front, that's why Nicky Boje was promoted up the order and he played superbly well with Gary. And once the rain interruption was over the guys carried on ... and scored at a great rate."

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Mail Cricket Editor