Pakistan find World Cup form with perfect timing

ST AUGUSTINE, Trinidad, Mar 11 (Reuters) A few weeks ago in South Africa, Pakistan looked as if they would struggle to beat a team of performing seals.

But after two handsome wins in their warm-up matches, the glint of World Cup glory shines once more in the eyes of the team that went all the way in 1992.

Pakistan were soundly thumped in both the test and one-day series in South Africa but the clearest evidence of their resurrection came when they cruised to a seven-wicket win over those same South Africans in a warm-up match here on Friday.

The pitch -- which South African captain Graeme Smith deemed ''unfit'' -- was surely a factor in Pakistan's seven-wicket victory after they won the toss and were able to field first.

But there was no mistaking the talent and skill that the potentially devastating Pakistanis were able to muster to deal ruthlessly with the top-ranked team in world cricket.

Pakistan were similarly dismissive of Canada's challenge in their first warm-up game in St Augustine on Tuesday, which they won by 77 runs.

BOUNCE BACK However, coach Bob Woolmer was not about to accept that his team had suddenly become favourites to win the tournament.

''If we are, we've gone from being non-favourites to favourites very quickly,'' Woolmer said after his team beat South Africa.

Asked how his players had managed to bounce back so quickly after their travails in South Africa, Woolmer said, ''This is the World Cup, this is the big time, this is where everyone has to put in the big performances.'' Captain Inzamam-ul-Haq was his usual calm, confident self despite the upward curve his team seemed to be scaling.

''The team is well prepared for the tournament,'' he told a news conference after the match against South Africa.

''This is a fine opportunity for the players to perform, and we're looking forward to taking on that opportunity.'' ''People do have high expectations of the Pakistan team but I am confident that there will not be undue pressure and that they will deliver in the tournament.'' Inzamam dismissed the notion that the pitch had handed Pakistan an unfair advantage against the South Africans.

''It is a question of the quality of cricket that a team plays that should be assessed when we look at their performance, not the state of the pitch,'' he said.

Pakistan's attack might have been disrupted by the late withdrawal of injured fast bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif through injury, but replacements Mohammad Sami and Yasir Arafat have slotted seamlessly into the squad.

Against South Africa, Sami bowled with pace and took two wickets, while Arafat conceded just 27 runs in seven tidy overs.

Pakistan face West Indies (March 13), Zimbabwe (March 19) and Ireland (March 23) in Group D.

REUTERS SAM BST1211