Johannesburg, Feb 27 (ANI): South Africa should expect a tougher test in their upcoming Twenty20 and one-day series against Pakistan after drubbing the visitors 3-0 in the Test series, according to senior cricket writer, Rob Houwing.
"As with earlier 2012/13 tourists New Zealand, South Africa ought to find Pakistan a rather tougher proposition in the limited-overs portion of their visit than they were in the Tests," Houwing wrote in his column for Sport24.
"Misbah-ul-Haq's five-day troops (though some wags might be cruelly tempted to more pertinently brand them either three- or four-day) were exposed to an ever-greater degree than anticipated as Graeme Smith's No 1-ranked Proteas blitzed them 3-0 in the Test serie," he added..
"The next few days feature a short, two-match Twenty20 series - Kingsmead on Friday evening and then SuperSport Park on Sunday afternoon - which will basically serve in many ways as preparation for the five-match ODI element to quickly follow," he wrote.
Houwing added:"The latter series can safely be described as the priority for both teams, given that the ICC Champions Trophy, another opportunity to try to earn silverware from a world get-together, will be their next challenge in the English early summer."
"Pakistan will also welcome the injection of veteran campaigners like Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal and the dangerously unpredictable all-rounder Shahid "Boom Boom" Afridi, although captaincy of the T20 squad switches to Mohammad Hafeez, who had a wretched time at the top of the Test order against the Proteas, registering 43 runs across six innings at a flimsy average of 7.16," he further wrote.
"They will also be aware that these particular foes have a much more decent record than they do at those events: Pakistan were losing finalists at the maiden tournament, hosted by South Africa, in 2007, and winners two years later in England. The Proteas have never even sampled a final," he concluded. (ANI)
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