By SS
October 11 2003

With the series nicely poised at 2-2, the final match in Rawalpindi looks set to be a beauty. The South Africans are certainly on a roll with 2 back to back victories, but will be without the banned Smith and Hall, whereas Pakistan will be looking to find the right balance in their team selection. Its all to play for as the 5 match series heads for a climax in Rawalpindi on Sunday. Pakistan were jubilant after 2 early victories against the South Africans, but credit to the South Africans who have improved their game and now must be favourites going into the last match.

What started as an excellent series for Pakistan has become a bit of a nightmare, with injuries, bad form and chopping and changing of the squad members. The batting for Pakistan has been a really mixed affair with Yousuf Youhana and Inzamam ul Haq standing out as the class players for Pakistan, with Yasir Hameed performing adequately and showing potential. Shoaib Malik has shown flashes of brilliance along with Abdul Razzaq, but the rest of the batting can be classed as mediocre and mind boggling. Mohamed Hafeez has looked awful with the bat and his confidence seems to be at an all time low. He should have been dropped after the first 2 one dayers, when he looked out of his depth and further humiliation must have rocked his confidence even more.

Younis Khan has been his normal self with one or two good periods of batting followed by an ordinary dismissal. Younis has been around the international set up for a long time now, and it is about time he started to perform and repay the faith in his selection. What is most frustrating about Younis batting is that he gets out, just when he look set to make a big score.

Rashid Latif does not seem to be in the right frame of mind for international cricket, with his batting and wicket keeping suffering as a result.

Survival seems to be the essence in the first 15 overs for the Pakistani batsman, rather than playing normal cricket, that is hitting the bad balls for four and working the singles, with plenty of open spaces available in the first 15 overs. Instead we have been subjected to poor footwork, playing and missing and poor placement of the ball. A lot of hittable deliveries are being left alone and the ones that are hit hard are normally hit straight to the fielder. A very negative and baffling approach indeed from the home team.

The South Africans will be in high spirits despite losing the services of Smith and Hall and must really fancy their chances. They have got better and better as the series has gone on whereas Pakistan seem to be getting worse. Gibbs and Kallis will once again be the key men for the away team, with Ntini and Nel operating as the strike bowlers, rather than the miserly Shaun Pollock who will be looking to continue his excellent form.