Faisalabad: South African coach Mickey Arthur said on Monday that the team was confident of bouncing back in the one-day series against Pakistan after losing the second match last week.

“Lifting the team after the loss is not difficult at all and it will not be an issue,” said Arthur ahead of the third match here on Tuesday.

South Africa are level 1-1 with Pakistan in the five-match series after the Proteas won the first by 45 runs before Pakistan clinched the second by 25 runs.

“We have played really well through the tour, we had a little stutter at Lahore. We have set our team really high standards and need to maintain those standards,” said Arthur.

Arthur said he believed that the new-ball-change rule after 35 overs in each innings of a one-day match would increase the run-rate.

“The scores in the last 10 overs especially in the subcontinent will be bigger because of the ball change,” said Arthur of the new experimental rule. “The ball is not reversing as much as it used to, it is a lot harder and it goes off the bat quicker. Runs are going to be a little bit more plentiful at the back end.”

Pakistan will again be without pace spearhead Mohammed Asif, still suffering from a recurrence of an elbow injury, which saw him miss the first two matches.

Pakistan were fined 15 per cent of their match fee, while Malik was docked 50 per cent of his fee for slow over-rate in the second ODI.

Meanwhile, the South Africans remained uncertain about playing the final ODI in Karachi after Friday’s blasts. “We are monitoring the security situation in the country on a day-to-day basis. We are waiting for feedback on the situation in Karachi from high-level Pakistani officials after which we will make a decision,” team manager Logan Naidoo said on Sunday.

TEAMS

South Africa (from): Graeme Smith (captain), Johan Botha, Mark Boucher (wicketkeeper), AB de Villiers, Jean-Paul Duminy, Herschelle Gibbs, Jacques Kallis, Justin Kemp, Charl Langeveldt, Albie Morkel, Andre Nel, Makhaya Ntini, Shaun Pollock.

Pakistan (from): Shoaib Malik (captain), Abdur Rehman, Iftikhar Anjum, Imran Nazir, Kamran Akmal, (wicketkeeper), Khalid Latif, Misbah-ul Haq, Mohammed Asif, Mohammed Yousuf, Salman Butt, Shahid Afridi, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Gul, Yasir Hameed, Younis Khan.