A spot in the final up for grabs
Two teams who lost their opening games to New Zealand now face each other in the Pakistan Tri-Nation Series with the winner of the game set to book their place in the tri-series final against the Kiwis.
Both teams have their task cut out and ahead of the third match in the tri-series between Pakistan and South Africa, here’s our match preview and predictions.
Pakistan vs South Africa ODI | Pakistan Tri-nation Series 2025 | 14:30 IST, February 12
The Proteas meanwhile were solid with the bat in their opening game with Matthew Breetzke scoring a stellar 150 on his ODI debut while contributions from Jason Smith and Wiaan Mulder got them to 304/6. With a relatively inexperienced batting lineup, captain Temba Bavuma and the likes of Kyle Verreynne will need to step up as well. The big boost for South Africa will be the availability of Heinrich Klaasen. South Africa though, were very ordinary with the ball as the two of their most experienced bowlers, Lungi Ngidi and Tabraiz Shamsi leaked runs while not picking up any wickets. On relatively flatter wickets, the Proteas will need their slow bowlers to step up with the likes of Senuran Muthusamy and Keshav Maharaj being key.
Pakistan on the other hand, had a poor outing with the bat as barring Fakhar Zaman and Salman Agha, none of their batters got going. On home conditions, the hosts will need their experienced batters like Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan to step up with the two being key to the hosts’ success. Shaheen Shah Afridi leaked runs in the opening game, going at almost 9 an over although he chipped in with three wickets but it was Haris Rauf’s injury which would be a concern for the hosts.
The Pakistan and South Africa match will be the first ODI at the National Stadium in Karachi in almost two years and the Karachi strip should be bringing out plenty of runs with the seamers getting some assistance early on. Count on Pakistan to hit back after an embarrassing loss in the first game.
Fantasy XI: Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Temba Bavuma, Heinrich Klaasen, Salman Agha, Mohammad Rizwan, Wiaaan Mulder, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Abrar Ahmed, Tabraiz Shamsi, Keshav Maharaj
Venue: Karachi
Winners Prediction: Pakistan
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