Watch: Kagiso Rabada takes a stunning backward running catch to dismiss Babar Azam

Babar Azam‘s poor form continued at the 20-20 World Cup 2022, as the Pakistan captain was dismissed for 6 from 15 deliveries against South Africa. But it was Kagiso Rabada‘s athleticism, not Azam’s inability to read the slower ball from Lungi Ngidi, that ended Pakistan’s captain’s stay at the crease this time.

Rabada snatched a brilliant catch running back from mid-on to dismiss Babar. Lungi Ngidi bowled an off-cutter but kept it full on the second delivery of the sixth over. Babar could only sky the ball after committing early to a lofted slog. Meanwhile, Rabada, who still had a lot of work to do, ran back from mid-on, kept his eyes on the ball the entire time, and finished the two-handed catch even though it was lobbing over his left shoulder.

Here is Kagiso Rabada’s excellent catch

#PAKvSA pic.twitter.com/0hleeOfvrC

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As for the game, Pakistan had a terrible start with the bat. The top four batters were not able to do much in the chase. Only Mohammad Haris showed some glimpse of attacking cricket, scoring 28 runs in 11 balls. However, the innings was resurrected by Shadab Khan and Iftikhar Ahmed, who scored quick-fire half-centuries in the game.

The former scored 52 runs in just 22 balls, while the latter scored 51 runs in 35 balls to guide the team to a total of 185/9. South African bowlers were all taken for a lot of runs, but Anrich Nortje was the standout wicket-taker. In the game, he took four wickets, while Wayne Parnell, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, and Tabraiz Shamsi each took one.

The Proteas also got off to a poor start in their chase. They lost regular wickets in the chase and could not cope with the required run rate. At the end of nine overs, they had scored 69/4 before rain interrupted the proceedings. The team led by Temba Bavuma was 15 runs behind the DLS par score.  They will now look to get some quick runs after the game resumes.