Dazed and confused, South Africa take on a confident Pakistan outfit in the first of four T20 Internationals starting Saturday in Johannesburg. The Proteas, already out of their stars -- David Miller, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Quinton de Kock and Lungi Ngidi -- lost the third and final ODI match to concede the series 1-2 to the visitors. (More Cricket News)
Then, on the eve of the first T20I match, it's revealed that the Proteas will be without skipper Temba Bavuma, who suffered a strained hamstring. In his stead, Heinrich Klaasen will lead the hosts. Dwaine Pretorius will also miss the match with a fractured rib. Then there are reports that in-form Rassie van der Dussen is undergoing treatment on a quad muscle strain.
In contrast, Babar Azam-led Pakistan will be hoping for further white-ball success, having come out on top by a 2-1 scoreline when they hosted their opponents in T20 action earlier this year. And they have added Fakhar Zaman, who scored back-to-back tons in the ODIs, to their squad following.
Head-to-head: This will be their 18th meeting in the shortest format of the game, with South Africa leading the head-to-head record 9-8. Pakistan have won three times in South Africa in seven matches.
And this will be the eighth series between the two countries. South Africa lead 4-2 with one tied.
Match and telecast details
Match: First T20 International cricket match between South Africa and Pakistan
Date: April 10 (Saturday), 2021
Time: 6:00 PM IST/ 02:30 PM Local
Venue: The Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg
TV Channels: Star Sports Network
Live Streaming: Disney+ Hotstar (Subscription required)
Likely XIs
South Africa: Janneman Malan, Aiden Markram, Pite van Biljon, Kyle Verreynne, Heinrich Klaasen, Wiaan Mulder, Andile Phehlukwayo, George Linde, Beuran Hendricks, Lutho Sipamla, Sisanda Magala.
Pakistan: Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Haider Ali, Mohammad Hafeez, Asif Ali, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Usman Qadir.
Squads
South Africa: Janneman Malan, Aiden Markram, Rassie van der Dussen, Heinrich Klaasen, Kyle Verreynne, George Linde, Migael Pretorius, Andile Phehlukwayo, Tabraiz Shamsi, Beuran Hendricks, Lutho Sipamla, Lizaad Williams, Pite van Biljon, Daryn Dupavillon, Sisanda Magala, Bjorn Fortuin, Wiaan Mulder, Wihan Lubbe.
Pakistan: Sharjeel Khan, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Hafeez, Haider Ali, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain, Fakhar Zaman, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Usman Qadir, Asif Ali, Arshad Iqbal, Danish Aziz, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Zahid Mahmood.
