Daily Times

LAHORE: With South Africa having levelled the Pakistan series 1-1, both teams will be looking to take the lead when they face each other in the third T20I at SuperSport Park in Centurion on Wednesday (today). The Proteas exhibited their bench strength in the second T20I with George Linde, Lizaad Williams, and Aiden Markram putting on a stellar show in the absence of South Africa’s top guns. After a narrow defeat in the first match, the hosts came back strongly to ensure a comprehensive six-wicket victory to keep the series alive as they outclassed Pakistan in all three departments. Both sides have their eyes on this year’s ICC Men’s T20 World Cup and are utilising this series to test various permutations and assess their bench strength ahead of the tournament. Formidable South Africa defeated Pakistan comfortably with a six-wicket win, thanks to all-round performance by George Linde. He finished with impressive bowling figures of 3-23, three catches and a 20 not out off 10 balls with the bat. Pakistan posted the target of 141 with Babar Azam as the lead scorer with 50 runs. The target proved to be well below par as the Proteas chased it down in the 14th over. The batting performance was led by Markram (54 off 30) and captain Heinrich Klaasen, who remained unbeaten on 36.

There have been 19 T20Is played between South Africa and Pakistan in the past, with South Africa slightly in the advantage with ten wins. If Pakistan win this match, they will even that number. South Africa haven’t won a T20I series since beating Sri Lanka at home in March 2019. Similarly, Pakistan haven’t won a T20I series played outside Pakistan or the UAE since 2018. Pakistan are at full strength but their strongest suit –– their bowling ––- did not look at their best in the first match while they did not have enough to defend in the second. Mohammad Nawaz has been their most threatening presence, but they would be hoping for more incision from legspinner Usman Qadir and left-arm quick Shaheen Shah Afridi. The second T20I aside, Pakistan’s line-up has shown they can post big totals albeit with only one or two players coming good. Fakhar Zaman, Babar and Mohammad Rizwan lead their run-charge and they will want to see more from the middle-order to develop a complete performance. Pakistan skipper Babar said: “We have a big pool of players and we are trying different compositions and putting batsmen and bowlers into dissimilar positions to see what combination suits us ahead of T20 World Cup. We will go into the third T20I with a positive mindset and carry the momentum into the game to win it for us.”

South Africa captain Klaasen said: “The message to the team up front is to be positive. If you feel like you want to take the bowler down, it’s your idea and your plan to go for it and that is the way we want to move forward. We want to play aggressive cricket but smart cricket as well.” Both teams appear to still have plenty of work to do before they are ready for the T20 World Cup, a task for later in the year. With this being a four-match series, whoever wins the next match will have one hand on the trophy.

The series moves back to Centurion for the final two matches, which may suit Pakistan just fine. They won both ODIs here on this tour, chasing in the first match and defending in the second. With the match starting in the afternoon, there shouldn’t be any early moisture. Conditions are expected to be more even irrespective of the teams batting first or second even if the pitch is slightly slower than at the Wanderers. Temperatures have gone up this week, so expect a scorcher at close to 30 degrees.

Squads:

South Africa: Aiden Markram, Janneman Malan, Rassie van der Dussen/Kyle Verreynne, Pite van Biljon, Heinrich Klaasen (capt, wk), George Linde, Andile Phehlukwayo, Sisanda Magala, Beuran Hendricks, Lizaad Williams, Tabraiz Shamsi.

Pakistan: Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Fakhar Zaman/Sharjeel Khan, Babar Azam (capt), Mohammad Hafeez, Haidar Ali, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Qadir, Mohammad Hasnain.

Match starts at 5:30 PM (PST)