3 Tests	South Africa	v	Pakistan
Pre-rating	1303.1		1125.8
Form	+44.5		+11.1
Expected Margin	South Africa by 139 runs

Into the lion's den, or perhaps not. South Africa are possibly better travellers than they are at home, even if the pitches suit their bowling as well as anyone's. Pakistan have been rejuvenated under Misbah, but are still had to rate because they play relatively few tests. Their bowling remains a strength, although their third seamer is probably a weakness, they match up well against South Africa and have the better spinner. Their batting, less so. Younis Khan remains a force, even at this stage of his career, and there is a lot of promise in their younger batsmen. They haven't scored heavily of late though, even when white-washing England, and only sporadically in their loss in Sri Lanka.

It isn't out of the question that Pakistan could win this series, but it will mean over-turning a side that is very very good at staying in games until an opportunity presents itself to win. Misbah has shaped a side similarly equipped to wait on an opponent, so expect a cagey series, marked by moments of brilliance from some exceptional talents.

Rankings at 1st February 2013
1.	South Africa	1303.1
2.	England	1235.7
3.	Australia	1181.7
4.	Pakistan	1125.8
5.	India	1023.3
6.	Sri Lanka	1016.5
7.	West Indies	961.4
8.	New Zealand	857.7
9.	Bangladesh	595.2
10.	Zimbabwe	543.7
11.	Ireland	553.3
12.	Afghanistan	522.4
13.	Scotland	444.9
14.	Namibia	425.3
15.	Kenya	297.3
16.	U.A.E.	212.2
17.	Netherlands	208.9
18.	Canada	147.8

Shaded teams have played fewer than 2 games per season. Non-test team ratings are not comparable to test ratings as they don't play each other.

Cricket - Ratings - Test 2nd February, 2013 15:29:06   [#] 

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