Pakistan vs. South Africa, 3rd ODI Preview
Confident after Razzaq’s one-man-show in the second ODI, Pakistan prepare to take on the Proteas in the third and crucial One Day International (ODI) at the lush green Dubai Sports City Stadium today at 11:00 GMT.
With expectations back home, Afridi’s men will step into DSC with a pressure of repeating Sunday’s performance again to face off confident South Africa, despite a one-wicket defeat in the last game.
The five-match neutral venue one-day series is tied 1-1 after the Proteas won the series opener by eight wickets and Pakistan, riding on Abdul Razzaq’s whirlwind century, bounced back in style to script a sensational victory at Sheikh Zayed Stadium Abu
Dhabi.
The series has now shifted to Dubai where the remaining three One Day Internationals of the series and first Test between both outfits will be played. After winning the opening three games of the tour, two T20 Internationals and opening ODI, the one-wicket
loss at Abu Dhabi was a wakeup call for the formidable Proteas and they will be coming at Pakistan with full force to brush off the loss.
On the other hand, for Pakistan, as always with expectations back home, the side will be under high pressure to maintain winning ways against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757.
Since Razzaq’s 72-ball 109, there is an impression that the South African attack failed to deliver good line and length deliveries in the death-overs giving the belligerent No. 7 room for mauling which resulted in their one-wicket defeat. But the way Rzaaq
was hitting the ball all over the ground, he could have destroyed any attack on the day.
South African captain Graeme Smith, who has mostly recovered from the injury he got in the first ODI after he was struck on the back of left hand, is likely to make a comeback to the side today along with veteran all-rounder Jacques Kallis, who also on the
sidelines during the previous match because of a hamstring strain.
Pakistan’s batting lineup is still facing serious problems. The opening as well as middle-order force has so far been futile in playing its due role. Though Mohammad Hafeez has performed well at the top, the youngster Asad Shafiq failed to spark in the first
two ODIs after playing a couple of notable innings against England during Pakistan’s controversial tour of England this summer.
Despite his flopped performance in the last two games, the coach and captain must keep faith in the youthful opener and give him a chance to understand the international game against a strong side.
Though the recently returned former captain Younis Khan got a poor judgement on Sunday, given out by Australian umpire Rodney http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Misbah-ul-Haq-c1972, who has also returned
to the international arena during the series after a gap of more than eight months, is yet to play a big innings.
"We are feeling better now as a team. We have areas to improve on, but we will try our best in the coming games", said the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 captain who also played a responsible 49-run cameo on Sunday night.
Apart from batting problems, Pakistan’s bowling also looked unimpressive in the opening two ODIs, although, the experienced express pacer Shoaib Akhtar was leading the attack. Saeed Ajmal is also struggling.
Especially the field placement for Saeed Ajmal in the last match was hopeless. No slip was placed for the off-spinner despite some easy chances at slip. So besides improving the batting pattern, they must raise the standard of their bowling and field placements
in a bid to win the series.
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