Proteas aim to bounce back

Younis Khan © Getty Images

South Africa will be looking for an improved performance when they take on Pakistan in the third one-day international in Port Elizabeth on Friday.

A stunning batting display by the tourists set up a 141-run victory over the Proteas on Wednesday, to cap a remarkable turnaround following a heavy 10-wicket loss in the Twenty20 international and a 164-run thumping in the first ODI at Centurion.

Led by an unbeaten 101 from Mohammad Yousuf, most of Pakistan's leading batsmen fired with Younis Khan (93), Shahid Afridi (77) and Imran Nazir (57) all getting amongst the runs as the tourists posted 351 for four, before bowling out the home team for 210.

The result helped square the series at 1-1, and man-of-the-match Younis was full of praise for the performance, which he believes was crucial to restoring confidence.

"We play for pride, and we were hurting badly," said Younis. "Everyone was very keen to win. We put together some good partnerships and we played very positive cricket."

"More than 350 is easy to defend," he said. "If we'd been defending 280, it might have been a different story."

However, the vice-captain called for his team-mates not to ease off the pedal and continue to build on the victory.

"It's crucial for both teams ahead of the World Cup. It is good for us to play a team like South Africa. They are a tough team to beat, and it will help us in our preparations for the West Indies."

South Africa captain Graeme Smith was hurting after the victory, but was hoping for a much better performance at St George's Park.

"They put us under pressure from the word go," said Smith. "And we didn't respond well enough.

"Our skills let us down slightly. Maybe it's the wake-up call we needed to put our feet back on the ground and go to Port Elizabeth and perform a lot better there," he added.