In international cricket, the South African cricket team is touring Pakistan for Test and T20 bilateral series. The visiting team, South Africa ended the Test series with a 2-0 defeat. The three-match T20 series between the two teams is going to start tomorrow. The first one will be held at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore. The next two matches will be played at the same ground on February 13 and 14, respectively. The two teams will make their way to the field in the T20 series tomorrow through this match.
The South African T20 squad arrived in Pakistan on February 3 to play the T20 series. The visitors have brought big changes to the T20 squad. The 18-member squad has only four players from that of the Test squad. Four players are set to make their debuts in the series – pacer Okuhle Cele, Nandre Burger, wicketkeeper-batsman Ryan Rickleton, and off-spinner Jacques Snyman. The Proteas are going to take the field with a bunch of new players. On the other hand, there is not much change in Pakistan’s squad. They are arranging their squads well with experienced and newcomers.
Since 2007, South Africa and Pakistan have met in a total of 14 T20 matches, with South Africa winning eight and Pakistan winning six. However, in the three-match T20 series held in South Africa in 2019, the host South Africa defeated Pakistan (2-1) and in the last tour of New Zealand, Pakistan also lost to the hosts (2-1) in the T20 series. But this time, they are playing on their home soil, they will try their best to make the series memorable, which they did in the last Test series against South Africa earlier this month. Despite South Africa are the favorites, Pakistan has whitewashed the Proteas on home soil.
On the other hand, South Africa have lost their last 3-match T20 series against England (2-1). So, this series is very important for the Proteas as well to build a strong position in the ICC T20 rankings. Pakistan is ranked 4th and South Africa is ranked 5th in the ICC T20 rankings.
T20 Squad:
South Africa – Heinrich Klaasen (captain), Okuhle Cele, Bjorn Fortuin, Reeza Hendricks, Nandre Burger, Junior Dala, George Linde, David Miller, Dwaine Pretorius, Ryan Rickleton, Janneman Malan, Andile Phehlukwayo, Tabraiz Shamsi, Jon-Jon Smuts, Pite van Biljon, Lutho Sipamla, Jacques Snyman, Glenton Stuurman.
Pakistan – Babar Azam (captain), Amad Butt, Danish Aziz, Faheem Ashraf, Aamer Yamin, Asif Ali, Haider Ali, Hasan Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Haris Rauf, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Nawaz, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Hasnain, Zafar Gohar, Mohammad Rizwan, Usman Qadir, Zahid Mehmood
T20 match schedule for South Africa and Pakistan:
1st T20 – 11 February, Gaddafi Stadium (Lahore), 16:30 (GMT+6)
2nd T20 – 13 February, Gaddafi Stadium (Lahore), 16:30 (GMT+6)
3rd T20 – 14 February, Gaddafi Stadium (Lahore), 16:30 (GMT+6)
Pakistan have won the Test series & now moving towards the T20Is. Predict the winners of them & play on Baji!