da betobet： If off-field events hang heavy in the air still, little on the field will disturb Graeme Smith and South Africa
da betano casino： The Preview by Osman Samiuddin19-Oct-2007
Shahid Afridi’s position in this side is one he has never been in before: as its’ most senior, most experienced member. He looked it on Thursday and Pakistan will hope he does again tomorrow © Getty Images
Whatever happens tomorrow will be overshadowed by what happened in Karachiyesterday. At such times cricket appears more frivolous than it might tothe uninitiated but the match, the tour goes on unchanged. The situationmay change, but for future tours to Pakistan, the commendable decision tocontinue, reached by the two boards and security officials may well set aprecedent.If Pakistan can rouse themselves out of the apathy, the listlessness thathas gripped them through this series, it may even bring a little cheer tomatters. As they did in the Test series, Pakistan unveiled anotherstrangely unbalanced combination during the first ODI at Gaddafi Stadiumin Lahore: heavy on batting, light on bowling. The result? South Africacontrolled much of the contest and Pakistan were in it only at the veryend, and even then barely.Shoaib Malik, the captain, suggested his bowlers had done well to restrictSouth Africa to under 300; commendable though they were in spurts, theynever looked like taking wickets, which isn’t a bad way to control runs. Aspecialist or two – why not chance Danish Kaneria for an extended ODItwirl in this new era? – wouldn’t go amiss. Abdur Rehman, Pakistan’sleading wicket-taker in the Test series and with handy ODI numbers, may sneakin to replace Mohammad Hafeez. Kamran Akmal has form in front of thestumps and on another good pitch could well open.Promisingly, Sohail Tanvir was not only impressive for eight of his nineovers, he didn’t look too shabby with the bat either. In only three ballsat the Twenty20 World Cup final, he showed some batting skill and he builtupon that impression in the first ODI; the team management are also fansand may consider utilising him in a different manner.Indeed, such was Pakistan’s batting depth in the first match – and itfailed in any case – that Shahid Afridi came as low as number eight: aposition Graeme Smith later expressed surprise over. But back he was andsometimes with Afridi that is enough. What spark Pakistan did show camethrough him, first with the ball and later with the bat. It hasn’t beencommented upon yet, but Afridi’s position in this side is one he has neverbeen in before: as its’ most senior, most experienced member. He looked iton Thursday and Pakistan will hope he does again tomorrow.If off-field events hang heavy in the air still, little on the field willdisturb Smith and South Africa. Their 45-run win was perfect in many ways,as a start to the series, as a continuation of their Test form and as agame in itself. Two batsmen made hundreds so beautifully-paced, theyshould be put into an ODI batting manual.But more than the form of Herschelle Gibbs and AB de Villiers, the returnto form of Makhaya Ntini would’ve pleased South Africa. A drab toursuddenly turned brighter, bouncier for Ntini as he demolished Pakistan’stop-order with four wickets. Runs were taken off him later – death bowlingone of Smith’s minor concerns – but his bit had already been done.It was Ntini’s first four-wicket haul in 25 matches; more acutely it wasonly the second time in his last 17 ODIs that he has taken more than onewicket in a match. South Africa have won 12 of those games, suggestingthere is life without him. But only half have come against seriousopposition which tells its own story.Not much is expected to change by way of conditions and big runs again arelikely. In which case, Malik winning his first toss of the series mightalso help Pakistan’s cause. They have yet to show some coherence, somesolidity in their game, but tomorrow would be as auspicious a moment asany to start.Pakistan (probable): 1 Kamran Akmal (wk), 2 Imran Nazir, 3 Younis Khan, 4Mohammad Yousuf, 5 Shoaib Malik (capt), 6 Misbah-ul-Haq, 7 Shahid Afridi,8 Sohail Tanvir, 9 Abdur Rehman, 10 Rao Iftikhar Anjum, 11 Umar GulSouth Africa (probable): 1 Herschelle Gibbs, 2 Graeme Smith (capt), 3Jacques Kallis, 4 AB de Villiers, 5 Justin Kemp, 6 Mark Boucher (wk), 7Shaun Pollock, 8 Albie Morkel, 9 Johan Botha, 10 Makhaya Ntini, 11 CharlLangeveldt
