KARACHI: Pakistan will be looking for a rare One-day International series win over South Africa when the first game of a three-match contest takes place in Cape Town on Sunday (today).
Having turned the tide against South Africa by levelling the two-match Twenty20 International series in Cape Town on Friday night, Pakistan should take the field for the opening ODI with a lot of confidence.
The Pakistanis have never won an ODI series against the Proteas in South Africa and it will take a gigantic effort from the tourists to upset the applecart of the home team which trounced them 4-1 in the UAE earlier this month.
But Pakistan are hoping that their players, most of whom flopped in the UAE, will finally click and give a forceful showing in the current series which concludes at Centurion on November 30.
“We are going to play positive cricket,” said Misbah-ul-Haq, the Pakistan captain. “Our batting has not been up to the mark in recent times but I’m confident that we will do better in the coming matches,” added the seasoned batsman.
Misbah, 39, remains Pakistan’s most valuable player. He has been prolific in 2013 and is one of the top-scorers of the year. If he fails, it will be really tough for Pakistan to counter South Africa.
Pakistan have lost two of their experienced players before the tour even began, with Shoaib Malik and Abdul Razzaq ruled out through injury. Added to the loss of fast bowler Mohammad Irfan due to a hip injury, this left Pakistan with just 13 players to choose from as replacements could not be flown in.
The last time the sides met in an ODI series in South Africa, earlier this year, the hosts won three-two.
South Africa, meanwhile, welcome back veteran all-rounder Jacques Kallis, who also happens to be the top South African run-getter against Pakistan, with more than 1200 runs. Though, he last played an ODI in February last year, and last faced Pakistan in this format in 2010.
Also back is Test skipper Graeme Smith, who missed the UAE series due to post-concussion syndrome after being struck on the head with a bouncer during the Test series.
What Biff’s return means for Quinton de Kock remains to be seen, though the young opener will feel hard done by if he’s dropped, considering his excellent run of form against Pakistan in recent weeks.
Spinner Robin Peterson and T20 skipper Faf du Plessis have been left out, with Imran Tahir in great form with the ball and Du Plessis failing to score meaningful runs in his last 20 knocks.
South Africa skipper AB de Villiers is the vital cog in the batting machine against Pakistan, as he averages over 60 against them in ODIs and is behind only Jacques Kallis in terms of runs scored against them.
Teams (from):
Pakistan: Misbah-ul-Haq, Mohammad Hafeez, Ahmed Shehzad, Umar Akmal (wk), Umar Amin, Shahid Afridi, Sohaib Maqsood, Sohail Tanvir, Anwar Ali, Junaid Khan, Saeed Ajmal, Abdur Rehman, Nasir Jamshed, Asad Shafiq, Bilawal Bhatti
South Africa: AB de Villiers, Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock, JP Duminy, Imran Tahir, Jacques Kallis, Ryan McLaren, David Miller, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Vernon Philander, Graeme Smith, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe.
0 comments:
Post a Comment