Followers of this series could easily think they’ve woken up in March, or even in 2010, when these two sides last met in five-ODI series. The result went South Africa’s way in the first game, Pakistan’s in the second and back to South Africa in the third. History would tell us it’s Pakistan’s turn again in the fourth, and they need a victory in Abu Dhabi to stay alive in the series.
South Africa, however, could break the pendulum swing of the score line because their batting has improved more than Pakistan’s. On the Abu Dhabi pitch, which has proved the most conducive for run-scoring, South Africa seem to have an advantage but whether they have the temperament to make it count remains to be seen.
The two bowling attacks, who tore into opposing batting line-ups in the first two matches, were somewhat nullified by an unhelpful pitch in the third game. Pakistan were blunted more severely by batsmen who were willing to apply themselves. Mohammad Irfan still caused problems and Pakistan will need him and the spinners to be at their best to level the series.
South Africa will be happier but not entirely satisfied with the changes they made to their line-up. They will still demand more from the batsmen, especially as the bowlers cannot be asked to do much more. Should they win on Friday, it will be the first time South Africa would have won an ODI series before the final game since they blanked New Zealand 3-0 in 2011-12.
Form guide
Pakistan LWLWW (last five completed games, most recent first) South Africa WLWLL
Team news
Pakistan moved Mohammad Hafeez back to the top of the order for the third match and will probably keep him there with Ahmed Shehzad. With the middle order still a concern, it may be time to consider handing Sohaib Maqsood a debut and bringing in Sarfraz Ahmed as wicketkeeper. Wahab Riaz has been unsuccessful with the ball, and Junaid Khan could be a handy replacement.
Pakistan: 1 Mohammad Hafeez, 2 Ahmed Shehzad, 3 Umar Amin/Sohaib Maqsood 4 Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), 5 Asad Shafiq, 6 Umar Akmal/Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), 7 Shahid Afridi, 8 Sohail Tanvir, 9 Wahab Riaz/Junaid Khan, 10 Saeed Ajmal, 11 Mohammad Irfan.
South Africa:1 Hashim Amla, 2 Quinton de Kock (wk), 3 Faf du Plessis, 4 JP Duminy 5 AB de Villiers (capt), 6 David Miller, 7 Ryan McLaren, 8 Dale Steyn/Wayne Parnell/Vernon Philander, 9 Morne Morkel, 10 Lonwabo Tsotsobe, 11 Imran Tahir