Date-stamped : 12 Jan95 - 10:30 4 Nation Madela Cup - Final (#1 of 3) South Africa v Pakistan played at Newlands, Cape Town, 10 January 1995 Inspired fielding by South Africa turned the tables on Pakistan, bringing the home side victory by 37 runs in the first leg of the Mandela Trophy final. The tourists seemed destined to make light work of their hosts' total of 215 when they reached 101 for the loss of just two wickets. But three brilliant run-outs and several breathtaking catches turned the match on its head. (Thanks : INtv) ====> MORE South Africa beat Pakistan by 37 runs in the first leg of the Mandela Trophy. A packed Newlands, Cape Town, ground saw South Africa make an average-looking 215 all out with three balls still to come. Darryl Cullinan weighed in with 64 runs. SA lost three wickets through needless runouts and Waqar Younis did his usual damage at the end, picking up three wickets. Pakistan started blazingly fast, dispatching Steven Jack for 18 runs in one over before Anwar's leg stump was removed by Eric Simons. Sohail looked like ending the game in 40 overs but a superb display of fielding halted them in their tracks. Three run-outs - two from Jonty Rhodes and one from Gary Kirsten and four wickets from Eric Simons dramatically changed the game around. Man-of-the match Simons received a cheque for R1000. (Thanks Paul Furber) ====> MORE Everyone was expecting SA to set a target of about 240, and all of us thought that 215 was indefensible, especially when Sohail came in and dispatched Stephen Jack for 28 runs off his first two overs. Fortunately for South Africa, Sohail was the only Pakistani batsman that got going. Inzamam was the victim of another *very* close lbw decision. There was a lot of question as to whether he got bat to the ball or not. It was definitely one of the closest calls I've seen. One of the more interesting aspects of this match was the number of run outs: 3 each. That is what swayed the match in both innings'. The three run outs in the South African innings were totally unnecessary. Cullinan was responsible for the loss of Dave Richardson's and his own wickets, and Rindel fell asleep at the non-strikers end and so didn't make it. Pakistan's run outs were equally as unnecessary. The first of them was off a brilliant piece of fielding by Gary Kirsten that saw him hit the wickets without even getting to his feet. The third umpire was called in and it was a 1/20th of a second decision. The other two run outs were both thanks to the speed of Jonty Rhodes. Both Latif and Malik lost to him tonight. The ball that dismissed Gary Kirstens lbw, seemed to be straying down the off-side. One interesting point is that they decided to make use of walkie-talkies between the umpires and the third umpire at Newlands to avoid the botch up that Barry Lambson made last week during the 5 day test. (Thanks Bruce Gruenbaum) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com) ====> more South Africa Feels Slight Advantage with Victory South Africa enjoyed its first match victory but must reduce mis- takes to win the Mandela Trophy in the Benson and Hedges qua- drangular cricket series, captain Hansie Cronje says. He spoke after South Africa used opportunistic fielding, includ- ing three crucial run outs, to defeat Pakistan by 37 runs Tuesday in the first game of the best-of-three final of the limited overs series. The second match takes place Thursday at the Wanderers Club in Johannesburg, with a third and deciding match Saturday in Pre- toria if necessary. Sri Lanka and New Zealand, the other nations in the tournament for the trophy named after South African President Nelson Mandela, failed to qualify for the championship round. "Being one-up is a little bit of an advantage, but a side like Pakistan can never be taken for granted," Cronje said. "They aren't world champions for nothing." Normally a batting star, Cronje made his biggest contribution to Tuesday's victory as medium pace bowler when he induced Basit Ali to pop an easy catch by Eric Simons with Pakistan still in posi- tion to overpass the South African total. Simons, named man of the match for his bowling figures of 42 runs in eight overs with four wickets, could get dropped for the second match if South Africa decides to go with fast bowler Alan Donald, who has been out of action after toe surgery. For Pakistan, winners of the 1992 World Cup in Australia, a promising start ended poorly due to some running errors exploited by the spirited South African fielding. Opener Aamir Sohail blasted away from the first ball and reached 50 in 41 balls en route to a 71, top score for either side. But after being 101 for three, Pakistan fell apart and finished all out at 178. Jonty Rhodes ran out two batters and Gary Kirsten, with an accurate throw while falling backward, nailed another batsman to deflate the Pakistani innings. Salim Malik, the Pakistan captain, said his side must cut down on "stupid shots" to give itself a chance to score more runs. The Pakistanis also aided the South African batting by letting several balls through or throwing poorly to allow extra runs. Thanks :: AP Contributed by vicky (vigneswa@risky.ecs.umass.edu)