South Africa struggle to acclimatise

South Africa are struggling to adjust to the heat and humidity in Pakistan, according to Eric Simons, their coach. Yesterday, they lost the opening ODI against Pakistan at Lahore by eight runs, during which Graeme Smith and batsman Neil McKenzie were hampered by cramps.

"The dehydration and cramps suffered by some players in the match played a big role in our defeat," Simons said. "We need time to settle down to the different conditions and humidity. I have talked about lack of preparation and it showed It's all about cramps and dehydration. Our team for Sunday's match will depend on how well the players recover."

South Africa only arrived in Pakistan on Tuesday and had less than four days to acclimatise. Their late arrival was caused by the possible cancellation of the tour which threw the schedule into chaos.

Pakistan, meanwhile, were on a high after their sixth straight one-day win under Inzamam-ul-Haq. "The victory has certainly given us a big psychological edge," Inzamam said. "We didn't panic despite the fact that South Africa got off to a flying start. I knew once we got the breakthrough we could restrict them."