Sports

Pakistan, South Africa to fight for survival today

Team cannot relax despite absence of Steyn and Morkel, warns Misbah.

Our Correspondent June 09, 2013 2 min read

While Misbah has been in form, the team will need all its batsmen to fire to defeat South Africa and stay alive in the competition. Photo: AFP

KARACHI: Both sides lost their respective openers at the Champions Trophy and that makes today’s Group B encounter between Pakistan and South Africa all the more interesting.

The two sides met in a warm-up game before the event began with Pakistan easing to a six-wicket win but captain Misbahul Haq knows the victory means nothing. A two-wicket defeat against the West Indies and question marks over the batsmen’s ability are concerns for Misbah.

Add to that, the high stakes in today’s fixture – a defeat likely to bring down curtains on participation beyond the group stage – and a 3-2 defeat in the One-Day International (ODI) series to South Africa is likely to play on Pakistan’s minds.

However, the ever-calm Misbah said the team was used to handling pressure.

“It’s not a new story for us,” Misbah told reporters at Edgbaston. “In South Africa, we were in a similar situation like that in the ODI series, when we had to win the fourth ODI and our team did exceptionally well with that.

“The best thing you can do is to take it game by game, and this is a game and you just need to win that.”

One thing favouring Pakistan, currently last in their group, is facing a South Africa side missing more than a few of their star players.

While the Proteas enjoy a good record against Pakistan, the team is without seasoned campaigners Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis. Fast-bowler Morne Morkel was ruled out and Dale Steyn is set to miss the clash with a side strain.

South Africa captain AB de Villiers was pessimistic about Steyn’s chances.

“The final decision hasn’t been made yet, but it’s not looking good,” said de Villiers. “The chances are he’ll only be ready for the last one [South Africa’s final group match against the West Indies on June 14].

“We’re still hanging on to that last bit of hope he could wake up in the morning and do a bit of a fitness test and look good for the game, but it’s not looking good at all.”

Misbah said the uncertainty over Steyn and Morkel’s injury have given his side a psychological advantage but warned against complacency. “They’re a quality side and at the moment their strength is their batting. So we can’t relax.”

Published in The Express Tribune, June 10^th, 2013.