Pakistan vs. South Africa: 1st ODI Preview
Pakistan and South Africa gear up for next year's ICC World Cup with a five-match ODI series starting in Abu Dhabi from Friday, as skippers http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shahid-Afridi-c2482 and Graeme Smith urged their sides to keep focus.
South Africa will step in the neutral Abu Dhabi venue with their morale boosted by winning both T20 matches against Pakistan after thumping a listless Zimbabwe 3-0 in an ODI series at home.
Smith, who stepped down from T20 captaincy in favour of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Bangladesh-c747.
"It will be the first taste of the sub-continent conditions before the World Cup," Smith said of the series here. "South Africa is keen on the development of the side before the World Cup and are excited to be here."
The Proteas, one of the top teams yet to win a World Cup title, will also play Pakistan in two Tests in Abu Dhabi and Dubai in a series shifted to the UAE due to security problems in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755. South Africa is playing in the United Arab
Emirates for the first time since 2000. Smith said that cricket would remain in focus during the tour.
"We hope cricket would be played the right way and in the end, it will be cricket that makes the headlines for the performances on the field.”
Afridi opined that the side will give its absolute best to recover the loss of the T20s.
"We batted poorly in both the games but we are a good one-day side and if we play to our potential, we can beat http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757," said Afridi.
He further added that the England controversies are now in the past and his men were focused now. "What happened on the England tour is now past and this is a new series and a new challenge, for which we are fully focused," said Afridi.
Pakistan's Achilles heel, undoubtedly, is its batting. The proverbial collapse pattern of Pakistani batsmen leaves its fans with a feeling of numbness these days: the openers combust inanely, Umar Akmal plays a couple of quality hits before holing out, Boom
Boom Afridi biffs a few big shots before throwing his wicket away, and the innings roves aimlessly in the end.
Prolific middle-order batsman Younis Khan is back in the squad but there is no Yousuf or Malik to support him. A lot would depend on how quick the young talent, Umar Akmal, matures and how long the aggressive Pakistan skipper can remain calm. Mohammad Hafeez,
bowled well in both the T20s but could not last long with the bat.
In the one-day series, The Proteas will be strengthened by the return of Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Dale-c52110 Steyn. But who will make way for Kallis in the middle order is yet to be seen; the two possible names are the remarkable Colin Ingram and David
Miller. While Miller offers explosiveness, Ingram - who played an impressive finishing hand in both T20s - offers stability, so would be interesting to see who makes the sidelines today.
Graeme Smith’s side, having won its last nine One Day Internationals, is in top form. Eight of these victories were scripted against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Zimbabwe-c3045.
Will the ODI series against Proteas turn out to be different for Pakistan? The answer to this question depends mainly on Pakistan’s performance with the bat.
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