South Africa now have five wins and one defeat from six games while Pakistan have lost four matches in succession
South Africa edged past Pakistan with a 1-wicket win in Chennai to move to the top of the points table in the ICC ODI World Cup 2023 on Friday. It was a thrilling game of cricket where Keshav Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi held their nerves to take their team over the line. Maharaj hit the winning runs for the team with a boundary of Mohammad Nawaz’s delivery in the 48th over. This is South Africa’s first World Cup win against Pakistan since the 1999 edition while Babar Azam’s men’s fourth loss on the trot is the country’s first in the global event.
Chasing 271 to win, South Africa reached their target with 16 balls to spare as Pakistan’s chances of getting to the semifinals got slimmer.
ICC ODI World Cup 2023 Points Table
With the close win, South Africa pipped India on the points table with a better NRR. The Proteas have won five out of their six matches in the tournament thus far. On the other hand, India have been the only side who have been unbeatable with five wins in a row.
New Zealand remained in the third spot on the points table with four wins in five matches as they only lost to India thus far in the tournament. They will next face fourth-placed Australia who are riding high on confidence with wins in the last three matches. The five-time champions have collected six points in five matches and will look to get more on Saturday in Dharamsala.
With the win over England, Sri Lanka are placed at the fifth spot on the points. They have the same points as Pakistan and Afghanistan but managed to overtake them on better NRR -0.205.
Meanwhile, Pakistan remain intact on the fifth spot after losing to South Africa as their chances to qualify for the semis are now very less and they now have to depend on other teams’ results too.
Bangladesh are placed at the eighth spot and they will face the Netherlands on Saturday as they will look to move up on the points table at Eden Gardens.
Defending champions England have been the biggest disappointment in this WC thus far and are placed at the ninth spot with just one win in five matches. They are just above the bottom-placed Netherlands on a better NRR.
