5th ODI: Pakistan seek redemption in Sharjah

Hosts hope to register face-saving win after series loss to South Africa.

KARACHI:

The fifth and final One-Day-International (ODI) between Pakistan and South Africa takes place in Sharjah today.

The match is a dead rubber after the tourists pocketed the series with a 28-run win to clinch the series 3-1 in the fourth match in Abu Dhabi last Friday.

Pakistan have been badly let down by the batting department throughout, with the hosts being bowled out in each of the four games and even failing to overhaul a modest 184-run target in the first match of the series in Sharjah.



Captain Misbahul Haq has been left with little to say after the continuous failure of his batsmen to post decent scores. Unfortunately for him, many of his players have given away promising starts due to poor shot selection.

Misbah feels that the batsmen, as well as the ones claiming the all-rounder’s berth, have not delivered with the willow against the formidable Proteas.

“At the moment we have tried different players in our order but the problem is that the guys who are good batsmen can’t bowl as full-fledged bowling options, and if we pick the players who are really good in bowling then we lack in batting,” lamented Misbah. “We are really missing a quality all-rounder who can deliver in bowling and batting in pressure situations.”

On the other hand, South Africa captain AB de Villiers is happy with his team’s performance in challenging conditions.

The tourists have now won all of the seven ODI series against Pakistan. De Villiers, who played the last two games as a batsman only, feels that he is more in control of the team as a fielder than as a wicket-keeper.



“I really felt like we were 11 guys out there, which sometimes you don’t feel, especially when a team is not doing well,” he said. “It’s very difficult when the guys drift off to the boundary to keep the attention and the focus of the guys directed to the middle. I felt that right throughout the 50 overs tonight and that made a big difference.”

De Villiers’ place behind the stumps has been gleefully accepted by young left-handed batsman Quinton De Kock, who scored his first ODI hundred in Abu Dhabi.

The South Africans are expected to rest one of their bowlers for the fifth match — one among Lonwabo Tsetsobe, Morne Morkel and Imran Tahir is likely to be benched for the day-night game.

Pakistan are likely to play an unchanged team with rookie Sohaib Maqsood impressing with his stroke play in his debut match on Friday. The bowling line-up is set to be unchanged; however, the so far untested Abdul Rehman might be drafted in if the team management decides to rest Saeed Ajmal.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 11^th, 2013.

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