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Coach Misbah-ul-Haq confident of Pakistan's chances on 'true' pitches in South Africa

Pakistan team has not had the best of times touring in the recent past and the upcoming tour of South Africa will be another steep one for them. However, head coach Misabh -ul-Haq is not losing his sleep over the fortunes of his team in the ODI and T20 series against the hosts.

Speaking about the preparations for the tour, Misbah exuded confidence in the technique of Pakistan batsmen and said that players such as Imam-ul-Haq, Fakhar Zaman, and Babar Azam have gained significant experience of playing in South Africa. The latest entrant into the Pakistan batting line up—Mohammed Rizwan has tasted huge success in the recent past, both in Pakistan and on away tours, and hence Misbah said that Pakistan will have a batting line up that relishes the prospect of batting on backfoot.

"As a batsman, you enjoy that, you get full value for your shots. Previously, in this team, some of the players have played here and performed - Imam, Babar, Fakhar was here. These players love that pace and bounce, now Rizwan is in form, a very good backfoot player. Those previous series and experiences definitely count, they play a role in your confidence as a player and team. When I was playing, suddenly, you just went to a ground where you've performed and your confidence level was always different,” Misbah said on Monday.

Pakistan will be playing all their matches against South Africa in Centurion and Wanderers where the pitches support the pace and carry and help batsmen in stroke-making. 

He said that batsmen will find it easier to adjust to the pace and bounce and will enjoy batting on such wickets, while pacers can also extract help from the surface to surprise the hosts.

"I think especially with white-ball cricket, the pitches are very good, they're true pitches, with good bounce and pace and for batters. In white-ball cricket, it is easier to adjust to these conditions and you get good value for shots. Obviously, Pakistan has also always had the luxury of good fast bowlers. That is the reason Pakistan has done well here,” Misbah added.

Pakistan have had success on their previous tours of South Africa and went on to win the ODI series against the hosts in 2013-14 under the leadership of Misbah. They have an impressive win-loss ratio of 6-7 against South Africa in their home conditions since 2013-14 and hence Misbah is quite confident in the prospects of the team before the start of the ODI series.

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WI vs SL | 2nd Test Day 1: Skipper Brathwaite resurrects Windies after Lakmal's new-ball scare

A gritty 99 not out from the skipper Kraigg Brathwaite and valuable contributions from lower-order batsmen Alzarri Joseph and Rakheem Cornwall put West Indies in control in the second Test of the series against Sri Lanka. The tourists, however, did not let the game slip away from them at any moment and could well have bowled out the hosts cheaply had the fielders helped bowlers on the first day. Sri Lankan skipper Dimuth Karunaratne won the toss and sent Windies in to bat first on a pitch that promised to be slower in nature. He banked on his pace trio of Suranga Lakmal, Vishwa Fernando, and Dushmantha Chameera to have the best use of the surface. On cue, Lakmal was on the money from the word go and persisted around the off stump line of both John Campbell and Brathwaite. The pacer was so accurate that his first three overs ended as maiden overs and the line of the attack started to become tighter and tighter to Campbell and it finally induced a poke from the left-hander to give Sri Lanka their first success. He was in mid of a terrific spell and capitalized on his rhythm to get the better of Nkrumah Bonner with a delivery that the right-hander centurion from the last game could not play with decisive footwork. Karunaratane was elated with twin strikes from Lakmal and handed him an extended spell after his first six overs yielded no runs and provided two wickets. Lakmal was not done and he was all over Windies’s number in Kyle Mayers as the left-hander could not show enough discipline and assurance outside his off stump. Out of three boundaries that went off Mayer’s bat, he was lucky to survive on two of them before Lakmal finally found the outside edge of his bat. But, to his and Sri Lanka’s agony, Pathum Nissanka—the hero of the last game, dropped an absolute dolly in the third slip to give the hosts a big reprieve. Lakmal bowled a marathon 10-overs long spell and provided his team with a perfect start on the very first morning. Karunaratne brought the left-arm spin of Lasith Embuldeniya and the pace of Chameera around and after the first drinks break. The tourists were looking to get into the middle order while the hosts’ skipper Brathwaite was batting with his usual solidity and Mayers was looking forward to taking the game to the opposition camp. Mayers was quick to pounce on scoring opportunities by Embuldeniya and Chameera as the pacer went for fuller deliveries in a bid to extract an outside edge of his bat. He achieved the moral victory by drawing false strokes, but the left-hander was willing to risk his wicket and scored boundaries off him. The day was evenly poised at the lunch interval with Mayers and Brathwaite leading Windies’s riposte after an impressive spell of bowling from Lakmal. Karunaratne started the afternoon session with his new-ball bowlers Fernando and Lakmal. The move paid off immediately as Mayers’ appetite for quick runs led to his downfall in the very first over after the lunch break. The next man in Jermaine Blackwood knows only one way of playing his game and he started taking Lakmal to the cleaners to get off and running. Runs started to flow from both ends but there were enough hints for Sri Lanka as boundaries were coming in streaky ways for the hosts. Lakamla returned with his third spell of day to remove Blackwood with a back of a length delivery outside off stump which the batsman could not resist playing at. With the scoreboard reading 120/4, it was upon the pair of current and ex-captain to take the Windies to a comfortable position in the first innings. 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