Cronje and Moin not satisfied

Sharjah, March 25: A beaming South Africa captain Hansie Cronje thanked his last dependable pair of Nicky Boje and Steve Elworthy for making a close three-wicket win over Pakistan a possibility.

"Boje and Elworthy held their nerves in an extremely tense situation to pull off the victory for us," said Cronje at the post-match press conference after South Africa beat Pakistan.

"I was wary of Pakistan bowling attack when we went in to chase 196, though we could not build a big partnership, everybody chipped in with useful contributions," said Cronje.

"I was not expecting this game to go to the wire but a couple of soft dismissals in the middle-order made our task very difficult in the end," he said.

"The tournament is still young. First we have to get to the final and then have to win it. I think its still a long way to go," said the skipper.

Pakistan captain Moin Khan tried to sound confident for the next games, putting Friday's defeat to poor luck.

"It was a sheer hard luck. We went into the game short of Wasim Akram and Shoaib Akhtar and then a crucial no-ball at the wrong time virtually cost us the game.

Coach Javed Miandad was confident that with Akram and Akhtar expected to line up for the next game, everything is not lost in this tournament.