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Thursday March 28, 2024

Pakistan determined to tame Proteas: Misbah

AUCKLAND: With heavy showers likely to drench Auckland on Saturday (today), there is a possibility that Pakistan might walk away with a vital point from their tough Pool B game against South Africa.Such a result will leave Pakistan with five points and a victory against Ireland in their final group

By Khalid Hussain
March 07, 2015
AUCKLAND: With heavy showers likely to drench Auckland on Saturday (today), there is a possibility that Pakistan might walk away with a vital point from their tough Pool B game against South Africa.
Such a result will leave Pakistan with five points and a victory against Ireland in their final group game in Adelaide on March 15 will be enough to see them through to the quarter-finals regardless of the net run-rate.
But Misbah-ul-Haq is not keen on adding a point to his team’s account on the basis of a wash-out.
The Pakistan captain declared on Friday that his team was looking forward to winning the World Cup clash adding that it has the firepower to tame the Proteas.
“You can’t control the weather,” he said ahead of Saturday’s game. “But you shouldn’t think like that. We are focused and determined and know that we can win this game,” he said.
Misbah and his team might be determined that they have the guts to tame the likes of AB de Villiers and Dale Steyn but the form book will tell you that they face a really uphill task.
Pakistan have never beaten South Africa in a World Cup encounter and they will have to really raise their game to overcome the rampaging South Africans here at Eden Park.
Very few things have gone in their favour even though Pakistan have won their last two games — against Zimbabwe and UAE.
Their batting problems at the top of the order remain intact. Then there is this question of stopping the likes of AB de Villiers. He could wreak havoc at the postage stamp-like Eden Park. With its straight boundaries and picture-perfect outfield, the stadium seems set for another high-scoring World Cup encounter.
With South Africa coming into the game after posting 400-plus scores in their previous two matches, there could be another run-fest for them.
But Misbah warned against taking his team for granted.
“I think our bowling has been really doing well. We are 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.