DUBAI - Misbah-ul-Haq warned his team against complacency after their series-leveling, win against South Africa in the second ODI, stating there were still problems in Pakistan’s batting that needed to be rectified.
“We shouldn’t relax after winning and we still need to improve. Our batsmen are getting good starts but aren’t converting them so we need to rectify that,” Misbah said. “We have a very tough series on our hands, they are very tough opponents and are going to give us a hard time.”
“It was a really good performance especially after getting out for a low score, our bowlers did the job for us again,” Misbah said. “[A score of] 220-230 is par on this ground, whenever you score 200+ you have a chance here, especially if you get early wickets. The way Hafeez started, he bowled very well and Afridi took some important wickets and Ajmal put the pressure on. They were well supported by the fast bowlers. Tanvir got the first wicket and Irfan came back to take more wickets.”
“Obviously we lost the first match from a winning position and when such things happen you get disappointed. But at the back of our minds we had that confidence that we dominated the 95 overs, it was only that we lost the match in the last five overs or so. After this win the morale is high and we needed that comeback win,” said Misbah, who also completed 1,000 one-day runs in 2013.
South African captain AB de Villiers admitted he was feeling pressure over shortcomings in batting. “To be very honest I am feeling pressure,” said De Villiers after Friday’s game. “I think any captain that leads a proud nation like South Africa and the Proteas team feels pressure and I do feel pressure.”
“They have two bowlers in the top five in one-day rankings and it’s world class spinners we are playing against, but once again I have full confidence that we will come back,” said De Villiers, who has only one half-century in the last ten matches. “I am passing 20 or 30 odds and I was flowing when I scored 50 (in Sri Lanka). I always try to get the 20 and 30 odd and then get a feel of the game and from there on I kick on but haven’t had that in the last few games,” said De Villiers, number one batsman in Test rankings.
“Our bowlers bowled really and we had great intensity in the field,” de Villiers said. “It’s all about attitude and we had that in the field. McLaren, Morkel and Tahir bowled very well and I’m proud of the way we played in the first half. Morkel started with great intensity. We have a few issues in the batting and it’s up to us to turn it around, I’m very disappointed and Pakistan were too good for us tonight, no excuses for us. We have to face some of the best bowlers in the world and we weren’t good enough.”
De Villiers said his team was working hard to overcome batting woes. “We are all working, we are doing pretty much everything, doing the hard yard but that’s not paying off, it’s a matter of one or two guys to put their hands up and give that performance.”
South Africa will hope star batsman Hashim Amla boosts their batting after he is expected to rejoin the squad in time for the third game in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday. Amla returned home for the birth of his child ahead of the second Test, which South Africa won last week to level the two-match series 1-1. Spearhead Dale Steyn will also join the team after missing the first two one-days to have rest at home.