Chennai, Oct 26 (Representative) Rankled by the stunning reverse at the hands of Afghanistan,former champions Pakistan takes on a rampaging South Africa in a must win gamein the ICC Cricket World Cup at the M.A.Chidambaram Stadium here on Friday. Having catapulted to the second spot in the points table with massive wins, SouthAfricans, on the other hand, are in red hot form, and would look to further consolidateits position at the top. With four big wins, after its ‘spinning’ loss at the hands of The Netherlands atDharamshala, the Proteas, having scored more than 1,500 runs in five matches,will be keenly looking to carry forward the momentum and strengthen its chancesof making it to the knock-outs.In contrast, the Asian heavyweights Pakistan, having suffered three successivelosses in five matches, can ill-afford to lose its remaining contests to fancy itschances of making it to the semi-finals. Pakistan needs to get its acts together, especially on the bowling front, with thespinners should rise to the occasion in this all important contest on a pitch whichwas expected to favour them.. The bowling attack appeared penetrative with ‘Mr Dependable’ left arm seamerShaheen Shah Afridi, though managed to give breakthroughs, was yet to hit hispeak form along with his new ball partner Haris Rauf. But the concern was the performance of their much famed spin attack which isyet to pull their weight, and the Chepauk pitch, with which they are quite used to, provides yet another chance for them to rise to the occasion, putting behindtheir rather forgettable outing against Afghanistan in this very ground a couple ofdays back. As skipper Babar Azam had himself conceded that the spinners, who had takenjust a few wickets in this edition, has not hit the right length and the leg spinners Shadab Khan and Usma Mir, either bowled too full or too short and allowed theAfghanistan to feast on them while chasing a huge total of 283 the other day.The chances of return of left arm spinner Mohammed Nawaz, who missed thelast match, due to illness appeared bright.
Nawaz, who has the ability to keepthe batsmen under check with a restricted line, was seen back at the trainingsession at the ground during the last two days. According to Babar, who was in good touch with a couple of half centuries underhis belt, batting was not a concern with Abdullah Shafique and Imam-ul-Haq at thetop, among the runs.Apart from Babar himself, Mohd Rizwan, despite a rare failure against Afghanistan,has the much needed experience in turning the tables by anchoring the inningsand later exploding, along with Saud Shakeel, with Iftikhar Ahmed at the lower orderproving his big hitting prowess the other day, lending the much needed stability. With the Chepauk pitch traditionally known to assist the spinners, Babar Azam willlook up to the spinners to bring the team’s campaign back on track against a team,which has scores of four-300 plus, including a 400-plus, and has made winningby huge margins, a habit.Going by their current form, South Africa, though vulnerable against spin as seenin its loss against the Dutch, goes into the contest as a clear favourite with scoresof 428, 311, 399 and 382–that included a big win against reigning champions England.Playing his last World Cup, opener Quinton de-Kock is on a fairy tale run alreadyhaving scored three centuries and leads the batting chart with 407 runs and will bekeen to sustain his run. The top and middle order is in ballistic form, with Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram,Heinrich Klassen and David Miller, all among the runs in this edition and bowling was ledby speedsters Kasigo Rabada, Lungi Nigidi, Marco Jansen, who has also proved his battingskills, Lizaad Williams and Gerald Coetzee, apart from spinner Keshav Maharaj.
Despite the Proteas clicking as a team and not having faced any serious challenge thusfar–save for the rare defeat against Netherlands–they will be facing a spin test againstthe Pakistan, which is keen to get back on the winning ways, on the morrow. It also remains to be seen whether its skipper Temba Bavuma, who missed the last outingagainst Bangaldesh at Mumbai due to injury, and led by stand-in skipper Aiden Markram,is fit and will return back to lead the side in this all important contest.At present, an unbeaten India, South Africa and New Zealand with four wins each andAustralia (3 wins) were on the top of the points table in that order, followed by Pakistan(ahead by net runrate) and Afghanistan (two wins) and Sri Lanka, England, Bangladeshand Netherlands (all with one win each). With all the teams having played five matches each, the quadrennial event enters themiddle phase and when it reaches the business end, the results of some of the matchesmight turn the tables and equations might change on the road the semifinals. The Teams (from) :Pakistan :Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam (C), Mohammad Rizwan (WK), SaudShakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Usama Mir, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Hassan Ali,Haris Rauf, Fakhar Zaman, Salman Ali Agha, Mohammed Nawaz, Mohd Wasim. South Africa :Quinton de Kock (WK), Reeza Hendricks, Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram (C), Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Temba Bavuma, Gerald Coetzee, KagisoRabada, Keshav Maharaj, Lizaad Williams, Lungi Nigidi, Andile Phehlukwayo, TabraizShamshi.