Pakistan hope to put best foot forward in must-win South Africa game

LONDON: It was the sort of result Pakistan were secretly praying for since their back-to-back World Cup defeats against Australia and India last week.

Sri Lanka’s shock 20-run victory against England at Headingley on Friday was seen as one of the biggest upsets of the World Cup so far.

Watching the sensational game in their hotel rooms, Pakistani players must have seen it as divine help.

England’s defeat has opened up the World Cup and now even teams like Pakistan, who have to win all their remaining four matches to stay alive, now fancy their chances of reaching the last four.

While acknowledging that his team is facing an uphill task, Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Ahmed believes they still have a chance.

“Losing to India was definitely a tough thing for us. But we gave a two-day rest to the players after the game. We’ve been practicing hard [since] so the morale is very high for us.

“[Following England’s loss], the tournament is now open so we have a chance. We are focussing match by match. Hopefully we will try to win tomorrow's match,” Sarfaraz commented in his pre-match press conference here at Lord’s on Saturday.

Pakistan face South Africa — a team that has had almost a similarly poor run in the World Cup as Pakistan. After just one win against minnows Afghanistan from six World Cup outings, the Proteas are almost out of the race for semi-final qualification.

But their dismal outlook could also make South Africa dangerous opponents for Pakistan, who enjoy a healthy World Cup record against them. But the South Africans prevailed in their last ODI series played months before the World Cup.

“If you talk about the South Africa series, it's different,” said Sarfaraz. “Bilateral series is different type of pressure. We played good cricket but unfortunately we didn't win the series.

"But [for tomorrow’s game] we are very hopeful against South Africa.”

Pakistan have been braving intense criticism from all quarters since their humiliating 89-run loss against old foes India at Old Trafford last Sunday. When asked is he and the team were under any kind of psychological pressure, Sarfaraz played it down.

“I don't think so. Everything is fine. We all are okay. We are all are backing ourselves, so hopefully we will bounce back in tomorrow's match.”

There are several potential match-winning players in the South African squad but Sarfaraz made it clear that Pakistan weren’t thinking about any particular individuals.

“We all know South Africa have good players in their team but we are focusing [on the] whole team.”