October 23, 2007	Tuesday	Shawwal 10, 1428

FAISALABAD, Oct 22: The fifth and final One-day International between Pakistan and South Africa, scheduled to be played at the National Stadium in Karachi on Oct 29, is likely to be shifted to Lahore due to security concerns of the visiting team, Dawn learnt here on Monday.

A final decision in this regard will be taken in a meeting between the Pakistan Cricket Board officials and the South African team management at the Iqbal Stadium on Tuesday at 10am. PCB chairman, Dr Nasim Ashraf will also attend the meeting.

Sources, however, said that the decision of shifting the match had almost been finalised and Lahore has been named as the top-choice alternate venue.

The option of shifting the match from Karachi to Multan also came up but was, apparently, ruled out since it was felt that it could affect the departure schedule of the South African squad.

Since Lahore has an international airport, the tourists will find it easier to play their last game in the Punjab capital and leave for home straightaway.

The decision to shift the game will, however, come as a surprise to many since the two teams had earlier agreed to continue the tour as per the original schedule in a meeting held recently to discuss the changing security scenario at Karachi following the two bomb blasts on Oct 18 which killed 140 people besides leaving almost 400 injured.