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Mohali, Oct 26: South African captain Graeme Smith today showered praise on his pacemen, saying they had stood up to the challenge of bowling in difficult conditions in the Champions Trophy and will have a key role to play in their crucial game against Pakistan.
The dew has been a major problem for the bowlers in the biennial event. But the South Africans and the New Zealanders have come up with tactics of their own to counter the dew factor.
The South Africans employed the short-pitched stuff effectively against Sri Lanka's free-stroking batsmen to give the team a 78-run win at Ahmedabad on Tuesday. And the Kiwis took a leaf out of the South African book to beat Pakistan by 51 runs here yesterday.
Smith hoped his fast bowlers would be able to repeat the dose against Pakistan in a match they need to win to stay alive in the tournament.
"The victory against Sri Lanka was a massive boost to us. We hadn't played one-day cricket for the last three and a half months. The key to winning tomorrow would lie in adapting to the conditions and implementing our gameplans," he said on the eve of the match.
"Makhaya Ntini bowled superbly. He is quick and he bowled a superb line to the left-handers.
"It is important that we keep doing things right as we can lose the plot a bit on a track which is seaming. It is important that we implement our gameplans." (Agencies)
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