Pakistan fast bowler Wahab Riaz believes that his team can come back strongly if they “lift” themselves ahead of their remaining matches at the World Cup.
After back-to-back defeats to Australia and India, Pakistan find themselves in danger of being out of the race to the semifinals. Riaz, however, is confident of his team’s revival as they take on South Africa at Lord’s on Sunday.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. “We have to lift ourselves. We are each other’s strength. We are all good friends and know that only 15 of us can lift the team which not even our family members can do. Pakistan plays better under pressure and we will qualify for the finals and semi-finals,” he said.
The left-arm pacer believes that lack of wickets with the new ball hasn’t helped the team’s cause in the previous two games. “As a bowling unit we are trying hard, We are all focused to do well in the South Africa match. You need wickets upfront in England but we were not getting that.
“Our focus is on beating South Africa, and we know we shouldn’t get ahead or think about the future. We need to go one by one by what to do every day. On what we do in the now and not what is happening elsewhere. We shouldn’t be thinking about the future,” he added.
Wahab, who picked up three wickets against England at Trent Bridge - his team’s only win at the World Cup so far, also thinks that ‘handling the pressure better’ will be the key for both the teams, when they face-off on Sunday.
“Execution of skills is everything,” he said. “They have failed in that aspect as well like we did, we had matches we could have won. In this match it depends on who handles pressure better and plays better. They will win.”
The 33-year-old who had produced one of the finest spells in World Cup history, when he bowled a series of short-balls at Shane Watson in the quarterfinals of the previous edition, is confident that his team will rise up from their mistakes. “Good teams are those that discuss and talk about their mistakes openly to each other and we’ve done that. We will make up for our mistakes.”
Meanwhile, South Africa’s chances of progressing to the World Cup semifinals seem all but over after their narrow loss to New Zealand on Wednesday.
While their bowlers have troubled the opposition in each of the previous three occasions, the batsmen have failed to give them enough runs to play with. The Faf du Plessis-led side will look to produce performances similar to that of their series win against Pakistan earlier this year, when they take the field.
WE CAN TAKE INSPIRATION FROM SRI LANKA, SAYS MARKRAM
Aiden Markram wants South Africa to take inspiration from Sri Lanka to finish the World Cup on a high.
“Naturally, after the New Zealand game it was a tough one to swallow because it was an important game for us that we needed to win,” said Markram. “It was close, went down to the wire and took an incredible Kane Williamson knock to get them over the line. That’s something we can learn from.
“The mood in camp was definitely down but we’ve done our sulking and moping about – now the energy is really good. Our families arrived yesterday, so the players are more refreshed and feeling up for the rest of the tournament.
“It’s really important for us to win our remaining three games and if that gives us an outside chance of qualifying for the semifinals, then incredible. But the only way to do that is to win three from three.
“England against Sri Lanka was a great game and proves that when a side clicks, any team at this World Cup can beat any other. It’s nice to see a good team like Sri Lanka, who have been struggling for form like ourselves, be able to overcome one of favourites. We can take some inspiration from that.”
One of South Africa’s biggest problems at this World Cup has been their batting – with no player yet to score a century, although there have been six 50s.
Markram understands the importance of someone going on to make a big score in each innings and claims the issue has a relatively straightforward fix.
“The start of your innings is really important to get yourself in,” he added. “We’ve seen the magnitude of knocks at this World Cup – players are scoring big hundreds.
“We’re doing the hard work as a batting unit in getting ourselves set, but then we’re not kicking on. “That’s something we’re looking to rectify – as batsmen, we pride ourselves on getting big hundreds because it puts the team in a good position.”
FACTS
Shoaib Malik has scored 776 runs -- the most by any batsman on Pakistan’s current World Cup squad -- in the 31 matches he played against South Africa.
Hashim Amla’s 122, which came against Pakistan back in 2013 in Johannesburg, is the highest individual score by any player on either sides’ current World Cup squad.
Hashim Amla is also the highest scorer among the players of the two sides’. The right-hander has amassed 1045 runs in the 24 matches he played against Pakistan.
South Africa quick Chris Morris has an economy rate of 3.91 against Pakistan. This is the best by any bowler in the two sides’ current squads.
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