Pakistan's morale has not dipped ahead of South Africa clash: Sarfaraz

“Psychologically the pressure is on a captain if you lose a WC match against India,” said Sarfaraz.

LONDON (Web Desk) - Pakistan’s morale is high despite a crushing loss to arch-rivals India in their last World Cup clash, skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed said on the eve of their match with South Africa at Lord’s on Sunday.

India extended their unblemished World Cup record against Pakistan by sealing an 89-run win last week but Sarfaraz said that his players were coping well although there was some pressure on him as captain.

The defeat as well as team’s failure to live up to the country’s expectations has led the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to announce a “robust review” of the team’s performance in the last three years.Pakistan have won just one of their five matches at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019 – an impressive 14-run triumph over hosts England – but lost by 89 runs to their biggest rivals India at Old Trafford in their most recent match.

They will have had a week to analyse that loss by the time they take to the field in London on Sunday, where they will try to down a Proteas side who similarly only have one victory to their name.

But skipper Sarfaraz insists his team won’t be focusing on the past and that the squad are confident of bouncing back in style at the home of cricket.

“Everything is fine after the India match,” he said. “It was tough for us but after the match, we gave our players two days’ rest. Then before three days, we were practicing hard.

“Psychologically the pressure is on a captain if you lose a World Cup match against India,” Sarfaraz told reporters.

“But we all are okay. We are backing ourselves. Hopefully we will bounce back in tomorrow’s match.

“It’s tough but after the match we gave two days’ rest to the players. We’re practising hard and the morale is high.”

Pakistan are second from bottom in the 10-team standings with one win from five games, but take on a South Africa side that has also failed to fire in the competition.

Faf du Plessis’ team also have three points to sit one place above Pakistan following defeats by England, Bangladesh, India and New Zealand, with the game against West Indies washed out.

Their only victory came in a low-scoring match against Afghanistan.

Pakistan will look to take inspiration from Sri Lanka’s stunning 20-run victory over England on Friday that has opened up the race to the semi-finals.

“The tournament is open now, so we have a chance. We’re focussing match by match and we’ll try to win tomorrow. We’re hopeful against South Africa,” Sarfaraz added. 

The two sides contested a highly-competitive ODI series in South Africa back in January that Pakistan eventually lost 3-2.

That has whetted the appetite for this Sunday’s clash, although Sarfaraz believes it is foolish to read too much into those games six months on.

“If you talk about the South Africa series, it’s different,” added Sarfaraz. “A bilateral series is a different type of pressure compared to a World Cup."

“We played good cricket but unfortunately we didn’t win the series. We are very hopeful, heading into the game with positive mindset against South Africa and we will try for our best," he added.

‘We have to lift ourselves’: Pakistan’s Wahab calls for World Cup unity

Wahab Riaz called on Pakistan’s World Cup strugglers to stick together as they prepare to face South Africa in a must-win game at Lord’s on Sunday.

Pakistan have only three points from five games and to make the semi-finals they are likely to need to win their four remaining games and improve their net run-rate, while hoping other results go their way.

Pakistan pace-man Riaz insists his team-mates realise the importance of the do-or-die game and he hopes displaying a united front against South Africa will spark a strong performance.

"We have to lift ourselves," Wahab told reporters. "We are each other’s strength. We are all good friends and know that only 15 of us can lift the team which not even our family members can do."

Pakistan’s defeat against arch rivals India last weekend sparked a depressing few days, not only for the team but also millions of fans back home.

Team management gave Pakistan’s players time off to unwind and come back refreshed after the India game.

And Riaz insisted his team-mates realise the mistakes they have made so far and are determined to make amends.

"Good teams are the ones who realises their mistakes, so we have discussed all those mistakes and a two day break has refreshed us," he said.

But the 33-year-old, who took three wickets in Pakistan’s shock win over pre-tournament favourites England, admitted the bowling unit needs to work harder.

"As a bowling unit we are trying hard, We are all focused to do well in the South Africa match. You need wickets upfront in England but we were not getting that," Riaz said.

Riaz singled out middle-order slumps for Pakistan’s downfall against Australia and India -- both in chasing 300-plus targets.

"We were going well in batting in both the games but lost crucial wickets and got derailed," said Wahab of Pakistan’s collapses.

Pakistan slumped to 160-6 after being 136-2 against Australia, while they lost four wickets in the space of 18 balls and 12 runs against India.