Pakistan seek first series win against SA

Pakistan have never won a bilateral series against South Africa despite coming close a number of times. Four times out of six, the two teams have gone on to the last match with the fate of the series in the balance, only for South Africa to come out trumps every time. However, with their experienced limited-overs names back in the squad, Pakistan would feel they have a chance to topple a South African side not having its best year in ODIs.South Africa have lost 10 out of their 18 matches this year, including a series against New Zealand at home and more recently, a series in Sri Lanka. It's the first time since 2004 that they have a win-loss ratio less than one. Pakistan, on the other hand, have beaten India, West Indies and Zimbabwe in bilateral series. Only four rating points separate the two teams and a series win will help Pakistan march ahead of South African and occupy the fifth place in ICC rankings.There are obvious areas of concern for Pakistan. For a team that has played more than 20 matches this year, that only three of its batsmen have scored more than 300 runs reflects poorly on its batting. Misbah-ul-Haq has had a stellar year, but the young batsmen on whom Pakistan have invested haven't paid back yet. So it's another chance for players like Ahmed Shehzad, Nasir Jamshed and Asad Shafiq to establish themselves.South Africa have also struggled with their batting this year despite the presence of some experienced names and have asked Gary Kirsten to mentor the batsmen during the ODI series. If both teams' batting follows the trend, it could mean the bowlers will have a larger role to play in the series, especially the spinners, of whom Pakistan are likely to feature three in every game - Saeed Ajmal, Mohammad Hafeez and Shahid Afridi.