Top 5 moments: Pakistan vs South Africa

The equation for Pakistan is crystal clear, defeat the South Africans or go pack your bags. As the World Cup pool stage approaches its pointy end, both teams would look to pocket the all important 2 points, but for different reasons. South Africa, for a jab at the top slot, for Pakistan it’s a question of survival.

While fans would love to watch leather bang hard on willow, there are good chances that mother nature might step in at Auckland and spoil the fun with possible thundering showers.

As the big hitters from both sides adjust their grips and the quickies tighten their spikes for the cut-through fixture, how about getting a bit nostalgic and re-collect some golden moments from days gone by?

The Protease and Green shirts have fought their battles hard and given fans some memorable treats to cherish. From the first time they locked horns at the 92 Cup till the last arm-lock in Centurion, it’s been all about pure passion, challenge and hunger for success. Keeping such history in mind, both teams are expected to produce a lot of bang and smoke on Saturday.

Let’s revisit some moments that refuse to leave our collections.

1. Jhonty steals Inzi and the three Stumps – Crickets Superman hits the ground



We have all seen it hundreds of times and still never get tired of it, probably the most spectacular moment from a cricket field. The iconic image of the airborne Jhonty, horizontal to the last limb, flying through the air and defying laws of gravity to demolish all three stumps. A mind boggling stunt that would make even the legendary Christopher Reeve bite his fingers.

The magical moment was captured by famed cricket photographer Patrick Eager and became a part of the games folklore. Jhonty recognition before the run out was limited to that of a struggling middle order batsman who wasn’t contributing enough runs but would save 20 odd runs in fielding. But that one picture changed his existence.

Ask him today and Jhonty is still unsure if it was his leap against gravity or the click of the camera that made him the poster boy of World Cricket.

2. Waqar Younis 4-62 at Sharjah Cup Final – The return of the wounded Tiger



What a match for fans, what a match for Pakistan and what a match for Waqar Younis it was. Being thrashed by Australia in the tour Down under, Wasim Akram was dethroned from Captaincy and Pakistan came to play the Sharjah Cup under a new leader, Moin Khan.

Waqar was kept on the side lines by Wasim and it was his time to hit back. Although he had a rocking tournament, but the Burewala Express kept his best for the finals against the mighty South Africans. Defending a total of 263, Waqar’s middle order burst kept a check on the Protease and gave Moin Khan his first tournament win as a captain.

And not to forget from the same match was Inzaman’s cracking off drive that nearly blew Nantie Haywards head.

3. Afridi’s Flying Kiss to Jacque Kallis – Kallis Chaumma Dede



As the old saying goes, you can expect anything from Shahid Afridi, but here was an act as bizarre as it can get. It was the Semifinal of the T-20 WC at Nottingham, Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat. The last ball of the 4th over, Afridi wacked a short one from Kallis over wide midwicket for four.

It was one of the hundreds of boundaries Afridi struck in his career, but what he did next caught every one off guard and astonished Kallis. Out of the blue, Afridi blew him a kiss but Kallis wasn’t thrilled.

This was tempting food for TV channels who did not miss a chance to milk out ratings. The foot tapping Amitabh hit “Jumma Chaumma Dede” blended perfectly and also generated thousand of hits on YouTube.

4. Abdul Razzaq’s rampant century at Abu Dhabi



Pakistan had lost the first match and badly needed a win to bounce back in the series. Same was the case with Razzaq who was ping ponged in and out of the team. Chasing a target of 286, Pakistan were bruised at 5-136 when Razzaq took guard.

It was the perfect setting for Razzaq who grabbed the opportunity with both hands and showered a 72 ball 109 that included 10 sixes and 7 fours. In his own words, this was the most memorable and fighting innings he ever played.

5.Fanie de Villiers Cycling joy and Hansie Cronje’s Tanga jockey fun



We have all seem them; we have all lived through them. Pakistan has seen much better days then the ones currently flashed to the world. Foreign teams used to visit Pakistan multiple times every year, they used to play hard and rubbishing aside the cultural shock syndrome, used to merge and enjoy the tastes of Pakistan’s rich and colorful culture.

Every time Pakistan play their home series in UAE, the images of Fanie de Villiers enjoying his cycle ride in Faisalabad’s Famous “Ghanta Ghar Chowk”, or the Late Hansie Cronje hacking the Tanga at Rawalpindi’s “Raja Bazar”, remind of the golden days of Pakistan Cricket. The smile of their faces tells the complete story, how secure and welcomed they felt in the land of pure.

Only South Africa can fell Pakistan’s pain, they themselves suffered international isolation for 27 years and went through the painful apartheid segregation. Only they can realize the agony behind empty stands and dusty grounds. They have helped us before, they could again stretch their hands and allow Pakistani fans to make some noise in those empty stands.