London: All-round Pakistan thrashed South Africa by 49 runs to keep their semi-finals hope alive, here, on Sunday at the iconic Lord's stadium.
Chasing a mammoth total of 309 runs to register their second win of the tournament, South Africa's start was not great as they lost their opener Hashim Amla in the second over of the match.
Skipper Faf du Plessis joined Quinton de Kock in the middle after Amla's wicket and the duo added 87 runs for the second wicket but the duo took too many dot balls.
Shadab Khan brought his side back into the game just when Faf and De Kock started to escalate South Africa's innings.
Batting at number four Aiden Markram was also not able to do much damage to Pakistan as he gifted to Shadab Khan.
Mohammad Amir put Pakistan on driving seat by removing Faf du Plessis. The South African skipper scored 63 runs off 79 balls with help of five fours before going back to the pavilion.
Rassie van der Dussen, David Miller and played some decent shot as the duo scored 36 and 31 runs respectively but they did not stay long at the crease to take their side across the line.
Andile Phehlukwayo gave his side much-needed boost as he scored 46 runs off 32 balls but he ran out of the partner.
For Pakistan Amir bagged two wickets, while Wahab Riaz and Shadab Khan took three wickets each.
With the win, Pakistan moved up to the seventh spot in the World cup point table while South Africa slipped to the ninth spot.
Earlier, riding on Haris Sohail's brilliant 89 runs off 59 balls, Pakistan posted a fighting total of 308 runs for the loss of seven wickets against South Africa.
Batting first, Fakhar Zaman and Iman ul Haq gave their side a flying start as the duo added 81 runs for the first wicket. Imran Tahir put a break on Pakistan's innings by removing both their openers before either of them could have touched the mark of fifty runs.
Zaman smashed 44 runs off 50 balls and Iman scored the same runs taking seven more balls.
Babar Azam and Mohammad Hafeez took the charge of Pakistan's innings after the departure of their openers. The duo added 41 runs for the third wicket before part-timer Aiden Markram removed Hafeez from the middle.
Haris Sohail walked to bat at number five just when his side needed him to fire the most. Sohail smashed 89 runs with the help of nine fours and three sixes at a staggering strike rate of 150 and guided his side to a respectable total.
Lungi Ngidi removed Sohail in the last over when the Pakistani was 11 runs short from his century.
Imad Wasim played a cameo of 23 runs off 15 balls while skipper Sarfraz Ahmed and Shadab Khan were unbeaten in the end.
For South Africa, Lungi Ngidi bagged three wickets, while Tahir took two wickets. Andile Phehlukwayo and Aiden Markram took one wicket each.
