‘The loss will act as wake up call’ - Former India international Wasim Jaffer on South Africa’s defeat to Pakistan

Pakistan beat South Africa in the must-win contest in the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2022. Former India international Wasim Jaffer believes the loss to the Men in Green will act as a ‘wake up’ call for the Proteas before heading to the last four of the marquee event.

Wasim Jaffer opined that the loss prior to the semi-finals will wake the side up and act as an advantage. However, the Bavuma-led side will have to beat the Netherlands to seal their spot in the top two in the points table.

“South Africa will be a little disappointed on not closing out the game. That is not how South Africa do very often, they don’t do that sort of fielding, they usually don’t bowl like that. They are far better than that, so they will be disappointed,” said Jaffer on 'BatBricks7 presents Run Ki Runneeti' on CricTracker.

I am sure this loss to Pakistan will wake them up and it is a good thing that you lose a game prior to the semi-finals because sometimes it wakes you up! If you stay unbeaten, that complacency can creep in. So, they will have waken up by this loss and hopefully they will play better from here on,” added Jaffer.

‘Unbeaten’ South Africa bowed down to Pakistan

The Babar Azam-led side opted to bat first and despite their underwhelming start, the side posted a competitive total of 185 in their stipulated 20 overs. In response, Babar Azam’s counterpart, Temba Bavuma hit the ground running after a string of dismal outings.

The Proteas skipper gave the side a minor boost with his innings but was followed by rain gods making their presence felt. What followed was a tough task for the batters to chase upon resuming of the contest as Bavuma’s side required 73 runs in the last five overs due to the DLS method coming into picture.

Eventually the Pakistan bowlers took matters into their hands and kept mounting pressure on the batters by swiftly scalping wickets. This led to the side eventually winning against the Proteas by 33 runs and giving them a ray of hope to qualify for the semi-finals.