Pakistan have reached South Africa for a long white- and red-ball tour, which gets underway with the T20I series.
The hosts, South Africa, are set to field a young and inexperienced team, with Pakistan once again in pole position to pick up a big white-ball series win away from home.
Ahead of the first T20I, here are our match preview and predictions.
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South Africa vs Pakistan 1st T20I | Pakistan tour of South Africa 2024 | 21:30 IST, December 10
Pakistan come into the T20I series on the back of away series wins in Australia and Zimbabwe, looking to carry on that strong T20I form. Mohammad Rizwan will continue to lead the squad, with Babar Azam once again set to shoulder most of the responsibilities as the senior-most batter.
Pakistan have the talented Saim Ayub at the top of the order, supported by the likes of Usman Khan, Salman Agha, and Irfan Khan. Shaheen Shah Afridi will be looking to get back in rhythm after a couple of lacklustre series, while Haris Rauf and Muhammad Hasnain round out a scary pace line-up for the visitors.
The hosts, on the other hand, have the explosive Heinrich Klaasen leading an inexperienced bunch of players. David Miller, Rassie van der Dussen, and Reeza Hendricks are the mainstays in a thin batting unit for the Proteas, while their bowling lineup looks even weaker, with Anrich Nortje and Ottneil Baartman being the lead pacers. Tabraiz Shamsi, Ryan Rickelton, Matthew Breetzke, and Kwena Maphaka will join the setup after the first T20I as they were also part of the home Test series against Sri Lanka.
Durban will be the perfect ground for the Pakistani pace attack. Expect a lot of runs and the pacers to be among the wickets. Against a relatively weaker Proteas squad, it will be Pakistan as favourites to start the series with a win.
Fantasy XI: Mohammad Rizwan, Reeza Hendricks, Saim Ayub, Babar Azam, Rassie van der Dussen, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Anrich Nortje, Mohammad Hasnain
Venue: Durban
Winners Prediction: Pakistan
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