Last Updated on 4 years by Charbel Coorey
PAK vs SA 1st T20I Preview Dream11 Possible Playing 11 Pitch Report | PAK vs SA 1st T20 Dream11 Prediction Today | Pakistan vs South Africa 1st T20I Key Players| Gaddafi Stadium Pitch Report
The first of three Pakistan vs South Africa T20Is gets underway in Lahore on Thursday with the Proteas sporting a new-look squad.
South Africa comes into the series as clear underdogs having opted to leave out their multi-format stars, originally to prepare for the now-canceled Test series against Australia.
Pakistan will aim to capitalize on its 2-0 victory in the Test series against South Africa but won’t repeat the mistake of underestimating them like they did against Srilanka in 2019 at the same stadium and ended up losing the series 3-0 which also led to the sacking of their captain Sarfaraz Ahmed.
The series does present opportunities for young players to impress and for some of the fringe players to establish themselves as key members of the group.
Key Players to Watch/Key Stats
Pakistan:
- Babar Azam: Pakistan welcome back captain Babar Azam to the fold after the ace batsman missed the New Zealand series in December last year. The Pakistani Skipper has been the most consistent batsmen in the format for several years and would like to start on a high and take a lead in the series. He has played three T20Is and got scores of 90, 38, and 23.
- Mohammad Rizwan has been in fine touch; coming off a century in the second Test.
- Hasan Ali: Hasan Ali returned with a ten-wicket haul earlier in the week and will be keen to make the transition into the T20Is as well.
- Usman Qadir took eight wickets in three T20Is against Zimbabwe in late 2020. He was quite dangerous as he turned the ball both ways.
South Africa:
- David Miller is the only proteas player in the squad who has got some experience of playing in Pakistan. Miller toured Pakistan in 2017 with a World XI side which played three-match Twenty20 series. In the absence of several Proteas T20 stars, Miller would love to stand up and take the charge. He has made 202 runs from 13 matches which includes three World XI matches as well.
- Tabraiz Shamsi has come on in leaps and bounds to establish himself as the Proteas leading white-ball spinner. He has only picked 2 wickets from 3 games and will improve the numbers.
- A year ago, Heinrich Klaasen was in superb form against Australia in white-ball cricket. South Africa will be hoping he produces that sort of form here.
Underrated Players who can up the Ante!
- Hussain Talat has been recalled into the T20 squad and should get a chance to play in place of the Pakistani Veteran Hafeez who is not available for the series. Talat has played three games and scored 55, 40 and 3.
- Junior Dala has played three T20Is against Pakistan and gone wicketless and would be keen to perform to improve his numbers in the absence of Rabada, Ngidi, and Nortje.
Stats and Facts
- South Africa are 4-4 from their last 8 away T20Is.
- Babar Azam has scored six 50s from nine T20Is as captain.
Possible Playing 11
Pakistan: 1. Babar Azam (c), 2. Haider Ali, 3. Hussain Talat, 4. Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 5. Asif Ali, 6. Iftikhar Ahmed, 7. Mohammad Nawaz, 8. Hasan Ali, 9. Haris Rauf, 10. Shaheen Afridi, 11. Usman Qadir
South Africa: 1. Reeza Hendricks, 2. Janneman Malan, 3. Heinrich Klaasen (c & wk), 4. David Miller, 5. JJ Smuts, 6. George Linde, 7. Andile Phehlukwayo, 8. Tabraiz Shamsi, 9. Bjorn Fortuin, 10. Junior Dala, 11. Lutho Sipamla
Gaddafi Stadium Lahore Pitch Report and Weather
Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore usually offers a competitive track and either side will want to chase upon winning the toss with 160-170 being a decent score at this venue.
The weather forecast reads a top of about 24 degrees and no rain. Dew, however, may be an issue, so the team who wins the toss could look to chase.
Also read: PSL 2021: Complete schedule, squads and team information
Dream11 Prediction
Option 1:
Option 2:
Match Prediction
It’s always hard to predict Pakistan as no one knows which Pakistan side will turn up on the day but as they are playing at home, they stand favourites.
Written by Shekhar Singh. Follow Shekhar on Twitter today.
