Pakistan pride at stake against South Africa

AFP: Mickey Arthur has no doubt Pakistan will be “up for the fight” when they face his native South Africa in the Champions Trophy after a humiliating defeat by arch-rivals India.

Pakistan’s crushing 124-run loss to title-holders India in their tournament opener at Edgbaston on Sunday was labelled the “Mother of all mismatches” by the Indian Express newspaper.

Yet, worryingly for Pakistan coach Arthur, there is the potential for an even more lopsided match when they return to Edgbaston on Wednesday -- and that’s not simply because South Africa are top of the International Cricket Council (ICC) one-day international rankings while Pakistan are eighth.

Pakistan were outplayed in every department by an India side who were nowhere near their best.

Having conceded 319 for three as India’s top order ran riot, Pakistan were dismissed for just 164, having never once threatened a rain-adjusted target of 289 in 41 overs.

It led former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi, to slam the current team’s “clueless” batting and “abysmal fielding”.

Now, in the space of just a few days, Pakistan must somehow raise their game to beat a South Africa side who defeated Sri Lanka by 96 runs at the Oval on Saturday in their opening Group B fixture if they are to have any chance of reaching the semi-finals.

‘Issue is fear’ 

Arthur suggested too many Pakistan players had suffered ‘stage fright’ against India in front of a capacity crowd of more than 24,000.

“My issue is fear,” he said. “My issue is getting out there and really looking to take the game on.

“The worrying thing for me...is we just do the basics wrong. 

“We drop simple catches. We don’t run well enough between wickets. We don’t understand when to bowl our variations.”

But Arthur, a former coach of both South Africa and Australia, was adamant all was far from lost. “We’ll be thinking firmly of coming back and beating South Africa,” he said. “Because that’s what I think our players can do.

“So, we’re going to be up for the fight.”

Pakistan will be without Wahab Riaz after he was ruled out of the rest of the tournament on Monday with an ankle injury sustained when falling in his delivery stride against India.

But given by that stage the left-arm paceman had conceded a whopping 87 runs in 8.4 wicketless overs, his absence may not be that big a blow.

Pakistan have applied to the ICC for an injury replacement, but they appear to have a stand-in already with them in Junaid Khan, who took four for 73 in a warm-up match against Bangladesh.

Mohammad Amir provided rare moments of respite amid the India run-spree with a return of none for 32 in 8.1 overs.

Yet, concerningly, the left-arm fast bowler was unable to complete his full allocation of overs because of cramp, despite being repeatedly on and off the field on what was a cool day. 

If Arthur has some ‘inside knowledge’ on South Africa, the Proteas’ have a ‘spy’ of their own in Pakistan-born Imran Tahir.

The leg-spinner, who changed allegiance after falling in love with his South African wife, played a key role in Saturday’s match.

Despite a fine hundred by South Africa’s Hashim Amla, Sri Lanka were well-placed to chase down a target of 300 at 116 for two. But man-of-the-match Tahir’s return of four for 27 turned the tide.

“It was close to ten out of ten,” said South Africa captain AB de Villiers of Tahir’s performance, which also included a run-out. 

“He takes wickets and he is also economical most of the time,” added the skipper, who was equally delighted by Amla’s “amazing innings”.

The cliche of Pakistani ‘unpredictability’ may be wearing thin, at least in ODI cricket.

South Africa, however, have a nasty habit of not playing to their potential in ICC tournaments and de Villiers promised they were not about to “get ahead of ourselves.”

Riaz ruled out of Champions Trophy

Reuters: Pakistan fast bowler Wahab Riaz will play no further part in the Champions Trophy after suffering an ankle problem during their defeat by arch-rivals India in their Group B clash on Sunday.

Riaz, who had conceded 87 runs in 8.4 overs, left the field in the 46th over of India’s innings and scans confirmed the 31-year-old suffered a deltoid ligament complex injury.

The Pakistan Cricket Board said in a statement that it had sent an official request to the ICC technical committee to call up a replacement, which has yet to be approved.

Apart from Mohammad Amir and Hasan Ali, who both played against India, Pakistan’s other pace bowling options are Junaid Khan and all-rounder Faheem Ashraf.

Pakistan who lost by 124 runs on the Duckworth/Lewis method in a rain-shortened match against India, next face South Africa in their second group game at Edgbaston on Wednesday.

South Africa beat Sri Lanka in their first match. 

Kent snap up Pakistan spin ace Yasir Shah

AFP: Ace Pakistan leg-spinner Yasir Shah will weave his magic for Kent in four second tier championship matches, the county announced on Monday.

The 31-year-old - who has taken 149 wickets at an average of 29.91 in 26 Test matches - is to stand in for Kent’s foreign player signing New Zealand paceman Adam Milne, who is away on Champions Trophy duty. 

“Yasir is one of the finest spinners in the world,” Kent head coach Matt Walker said.

“Taking 20 wickets consistently in red-ball cricket (county championship) will be key to our promotion chances and a bowler of Yasir’s calibre will help to us achieve that and rotate our attack at a key period in the season.”

Yasir could make his debut in the game with Durham beginning on Thursday. 

Kent are currently second in the Division Two table, having won four of their opening five games of the season.