After cleaning up the hosts in the ODI series, Pakistan will now look to continue that form and their strong away run in the Test series. South Africa do, however, have a golden opportunity to all but lock in a World Test Championship (WTC) Final spot should they win the home series against the Subcontinent side.
Ahead of the first Test match between South Africa and Pakistan, here are our match preview and predictions.
Also read: Cricket South Africa Sponsors 2024 | Pakistan Cricket Board sponsors 2024
Pakistan come into the red-ball leg of this tour not only high on confidence after their big ODI series win but with all the pieces slowly falling into place. Their star batters Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan are back among the runs, and even the young Saim Ayub at the top of the order scored a stunning century in the final ODI. With Shan Masood coming back to take the reins, the visitors are in good stead with the bat. Their bowling, however, will worry them a bit as Shaheen Shah Afridi is to be rested, leaving at their disposal a relatively inexperienced lineup. With no Afridi and Haris Rauf, it will be Naseem Shah and Mohammad Abbas leading the attack, while Noman Ali and Aamer Jamal will also have to shoulder a lot of responsibility.
The hosts, meanwhile, will have Temba Bavuma leading them with Aiden Markram, Tony de Zorzi, and Tristan Stubbs as the mainstays of the Proteas batting lineup. Ryan Rickelton and David Bedingham will also have eyes on them given the hosts’ inexperienced batting unit. The bowling lineup will see Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen take charge, while they have also included the injured Keshav Maharaj and Wiaan Mulder in the squad.
The SuperSport Park at Centurion will provide a lot of assistance to the fast bowlers. We have the visitors starting as the favourites once again, and Pakistan’s stronger batting unit should be able to help them come out on top.
Fantasy XI: Mohammad Rizwan, Aiden Markram, Saim Ayub, Babar Azam, Rassie van der Dussen, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Salman Agha, Kagiso Rabada, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Shah Afridi
Venue: Centurion
Winners Prediction: Pakistan
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