February 16, 2003	Sunday	Zul Hijjah 14, 1423

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KIMBERLEY (South Africa), Feb 15: A battered and bruised Pakistan side, who take on minnows Namibia on Sunday, will try to erase the memory of the mauling they received at the hands of World Cup champions Australia earlier this week at the Wanderers.

On paper, the match at De Beers Diamond Oval should be a cakewalk for Pakistan whose topsy-turvy form always offers even the poorest of the sides an outside chance of upsetting the odds as Bangladesh did in the 1999 World Cup.

Pakistan, apart from the first half of the game against Australia, were nothing more than a mediocre outfit and not in the same class as their rivals who showed that there is no replacement for true professionalism.

Talent wise the Pakistanis are as talented as any other team in the World Cup but what they lack is fulfilling their potential especially in important matches.

Waqar Younis and his men should make sure that they do not take Namibia lightly and have to bowl and bat well to score a convincing victory badly needed to lift team morale.

Already in a tough group and with England deciding to forfeit four points against Zimbabwe, Pakistan’s chances of squeezing into Super Six would not be an easy task.

Besides, in the final reckoning the run rate is also certain to play an important role so a huge score and cheap dismissal of Namibia should be Pakistan’s foremost assignment against a team which was literally walloped by Zimbabwe in their first match.

Pakistan, who had a strenuous training session on Saturday morning, are taking Namibia very seriously as skipper Waqar is keen to put the Australian result behind.

Pakistanis have no injury worries and are expected to field their strongest lineup with Saeed Anwar, who missed Tuesday’s match, might get an opportunity on Sunday.

According to tour selection committee the final XI will be named before the start of the match.

“There are no easy matches in World Cup. We committed mistakes against Australia specially bowled poorly and gave too many easy runs in the middle of the innings,” Waqar said at a press briefing. “We can not afford another slip up and are determined not to repeat the mistakes as we need points in our quest for a place in Super Six. The boys are eager to perform well.”

Namibia accept the difficult task ahead of them and rate Pakistan very highly.

“Pakistan has six or seven world class players and a team good enough to beat the best when on song,” observed Namibian skipper Deon Kotze. “But they are also vulnerable at times because their indifferent form on a given day. This gives us some ray of light. We are going to put up our best and hope Pakistanis have an off day.”

Sunday’s clash will be another landmark in the illustrious and often turbulent career of Wasim Akram. It will be Wasim 34th appearance in the World Cup, overhauling compatriot Javed Miandad and Australian Steve Waugh, who both played 33 times in the competition.

Teams (from):

PAKISTAN: Waqar Younis (captain), Saeed Anwar, Taufiq Umar, Saleem Elahi, Younis Khan, Yousuf Youhana, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Shahid Afridi, Abdul Razzaq, Azhar Mahmood, Wasim Akram, Rashid Latif, Mohammad Sami, Shoaib Akhtar, Saqlain Mushtaq.

NAMIBIA: Deon Kotze (captain), Jan Burger, Louis Burger, Sarel Burger, Morne Karg, Daniel Keulder, Bjorn Kotze, Lennie Louw, Bryan Murgatroyd, Gerrie Snyman, Stefan Swanepoel, Burton van Rooi, Melt van Schoor, Rudi van Vuuren, Riaan Walters.

Umpires: David Orchard (South Africa) and Neil Mallender (England).

TV umpire: Simon Taufel (Australia).

Match referee: Denis Lindsay (South Africa).