confident that we’ve got bowlers who can really get wickets against any team. We have played South Africa regularly and they’ve been doing well but we are confident that we’ve got a bowling attack that can really put them under pressure,” he said.
Even if Pakistan’s bowlers deliver according to Misbah’s expectations, there remains the thorny issue of the Pakistani batters scoring enough runs.
Pakistan have struggled at the top of the order both while batting first and in run-chases.
The fact that South Africa’s is the best bowling attack in their pool, have allowed Pakistan’s critics to predict that they will flop in overcast conditions.
But Dale Steyn made it clear that his team won’t take Pakistan lightly.
“We are going to take tomorrow’s match very seriously,” the South African pacer said.
“I’m sure Pakistan will be as determined to come out and win. I don’t know what the log looks like, but they are in a situation where I think they have to win a couple games. They’ll come out guns blazing. I don’t mean guns blazing like swinging the bat, but they’ll come out looking to pull off a win. We know that,” he said.
Going into the match, Pakistan were concerned over the fitness of Haris Sohail as the batsman was nursing a heal injury. “He is getting treatment but I’m hopeful he will recover soon,” Misbah said.
He told ‘The News’ that Irfan was fully fit after recovering from a recurring glute problem. “Irfan bowled a few overs and I’m sure that he is fully fit for tomorrow’s game.”
It rained on Friday and with more showers in Saturday’s forecast there is likely to be sufficient moisture in the wicket to aid fast bowlers.
While Misbah and senior all-rounder Shahid Afridi will be hoping to take their team through, they will also be looking forward to achieving some personal milestones. Misbah requires seven more runs to complete 5000 runs in ODIs while Afridi needs five more scalps to make it to the 400-wicket club.