South Africa coach Mickey Arthur said there is no need to panic despite watching his world number one side’s batting line-up fail to click for the second successive match.
South Africa lost by seven wickets to Pakistan on Friday in their final World Cup warm-up match on an awful pitch that caused so many concerns that players protested over its match-worthiness.
”There is absolutely no panic. This was just a practice match and it didn’t go our way,” said Arthur after seeing another
below-par outing from his batsmen, who mustered just 192 against Ireland on Monday.
”I think if the coin had fallen the other way and had we bowled first, it would have been different. Our bowlers had a decent workout, but the only concern is that the top order still needs some runs.”
The game was held up for nearly 10 minutes in the morning session after the players had complained of the track. South Africa were 56-3 at the stage.
”I don’t think we gave up. It took us 10 overs to regain the intensity after the break,” said Arthur.
”The last thing we wanted was to lose a player like Jacques Kallis [on an unpredictable pitch] as he is obviously crucial to our preparations. We were five down early and wanted 220, but ended up shorter than that.”
The South African coach believed that his team would not encounter such surfaces when the main competition starts.
”I don’t think we are going to play on such pitches in the main competition, if my information about the pitches is right,” said Arthur.
”I think it’s certainly going to be a bowl-first competition, but the toss is not going to be as crucial as it was today [Friday].”
South Africa’s hopes of gaining valuable batting practice were dashed when they were put in to bat on a wet pitch as they could manage just 199, a total which was much below their expectations.
Pakistan batted as if it was the easiest job in the world, surpassing their opponents’ total with more than five overs to spare. This was just the boost they needed ahead of their World Cup opener against the West Indies next week.
”It was a tale of two pitches,” added Arthur.
”When we batted it was wet and difficult. It dried up later and batting became easier. It was of variable bounce when we started, but awesome to bat on later in the match.”
South Africa were restricted to a modest total with only Loots Bosman defying the Pakistani attack with 53. Ashwell Prince (35), Jacques Kallis (29) and Mark Boucher (22) were the other notable scorers.
Pakistani bowlers struck it rich, with seamers Mohammad Sami and Umar Gul, and off-spinners Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik, grabbing two wickets apiece.
In contrast, Pakistan’s batting flourished as Younis Khan (79), opener Hafeez (49) and Mohammad Yousuf (48 not out) all made merry in better batting conditions.
South Africa are in Group A of the World Cup with defending champions Australia, Scotland and the Netherlands.
The top two sides will advance to the next Super Eight stage. — Sapa-AFP