LAHORE, Oct 12: South Africa captain Graeme Smith hailed Friday’s series win over Pakistan as a “wonderful achievement” and a huge confidence boost ahead of a tough 12 months.

South Africa won their first series on the subcontinent since 2000 with a draw in the second and final Test after sealing the first by 160 runs.

“Tonight we are going to enjoy the Test series. This is hugely encouraging and a wonderful achievement and gives us a chance to focus on a few tough challenges this year,” said Smith.

“Pakistan was our first. India, England, Australia are to come and I am happy that we have achieved our first,” Smith said.

Smith said he was surprised that his charges were able to place Pakistan under so much pressure on home soil. “The style of cricket we played, the way we executed our plans, the way we have been able to put Pakistan under pressure has been surprising and very exciting for our future in Tests,” he said.

Smith also praised his batsmen’s ability to play spin on turning pitches. “We played it well here. We surprised a few people with the way we played. Our game plan on spinning wickets worked for us,” he said.

Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik said he harboured hopes of a win when Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf were at the crease. “We were expecting to win when they were playing and had Younis survived longer we would have had a chance, but we lost two wickets including that of Inzamam-ul Haq and were forced to settle for a draw,” said Malik.

“Obviously we are disappointed but we have to look ahead to the one-day series now and put our efforts and thoughts there,” said Malik of the five-match series starting here from October 18.”—AFP