South Africa scrape past Pakistan as World Cup delivers first cliffhanger

Proteas hold their nerve while Pakistan lose theirs in a match that had everyone on the edge of their seats

- Sanjjeev K Samyal

The 2023 World Cup finally has a match that went right down to the wire. A close contest, a mad contest and everything else in between. In the end, as Keshav Maharaj let out a guttural roar, South Africa had somehow managed to pip a desperate Pakistan by one wicket at Chennai's MA Chidambaram Stadium. The choke had been on but the Proteas survived.

With South Africa looking comfortable in their chase of 270, the game suddenly came alive in the 41st over. Upto that point, South Africa were well in control of their chase - needing 22 runs from 60 balls with four wickets in hand. Easy, right? Think again.

But much to their fans' dismay, Aiden Markram, who had led the chase with a superb 91 (93 balls), went for a big shot off leg-spinner Usama Mir only to get a leading edge. His dismissal would have sent shockwaves in the South Africa dressing room.

In the next over, Shaheen Shah Afridi got a wicket off the first ball to remove Gerald Coetzee to make it 250/8. Then, Haris Rauf took an impossible, improbable catch off his own bowling to send Lungi Ngidi back.

Keshav Maharaj, however, kept his nerve to hold fort at one end. With four runs to win, he turned left-arm spinner Mohammad Nawaz's second ball of the 48th over to the fine leg fence to clinch victory.

It was a heartbreaking result for Pakistan. They have the reputation of coming alive late but they've left themselves with no margin for error.