There will be a whole lot to play for both these sides especially for Pakistan when they take on South Africa in this all-important clash at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Though the writing is on the wall as per cricketing experts for Pakistan in this tournament, the only ones who would not believe so are Pakistan themselves who are pretty renowned for surprising everyone in the most remarkable manner, be it in their highs or lows.
A win here for South Africa will confirm their semi-final berth with a Super 12 game against the Netherlands yet to be played. A defeat on the other hand will make their upcoming fixture a must-win affair.
To bolster their chances of pulling off a heist by breaking into the top 2 of the group, Pakistan has to win both their remaining games and then depend on either of Zimbabwe or Netherlands to beat India or South Africa respectively.
Overview
Pakistan: They have been unable to get over their well-known weakness of over-dependence on Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan in the batting department. With the skipper and his opening partner fetching just 8 and 67 runs respectively in the tournament so far, their batting has suffered big-time. Their bowlers have been mighty impressive but their batters have let them down every time. In the clash involving two of the best pace attacks in the tournament, their bowlers will surely look to stamp their authority.
South Africa: They are looking as one of the most balanced sides in the tournament with hardly any loopholes barring one. Temba Bavuma's horrible returns with the bat at the top is something that every other side must have taken note of and would be looking to exploit further. With just 14 runs in 3 outings at a strike rate of 60 in this tournament so far, Bavuma is under the pump to come good or give up on the shortest format of the game altogether given his returns in the format.
Probable Playing XI
Pakistan: 1 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 2 Babar Azam (capt), 3 Shan Masood, 4 Asif Ali, 5 Iftikhar Ahmed, 6 Shadab Khan, 7 Mohammed Nawaz, 8 Mohammed Wasim, 9 Shaheen Shah Afridi, 10 Haris Rauf, 11 Naseem Shah.
South Africa: 1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 Temba Bavuma (capt), 3 Rilee Rossouw, 4 Aiden Markram, 5 David Miller, 6 Tristan Stubbs, 7 Wayne Parnell, 8 Keshav Maharaj, 9 Anrich Nortje 10 Lungi Ngidi, 11 Kagiso Rabada.
Pitch & Weather Report
This game will be played on the same pitch as the Sri Lanka-New Zealand game and we can expect a good amount of help for the pacers upfront. There's no likelihood of rain interfering in this game.
Venue: Sydney Cricket Ground, Melbourne
Date & Time: Nov 3nd at 1:30 PM IST and local time 07:00 PM AEDT
Live Streaming: Star Sports Network and Disney+ Hotstar
Interesting Facts & Approaching Milestones
- Pakistan has an 11-10 edge over South Africa in T20Is Head-to-Head.
- Pakistan has defeated South Africa on 3 out of 3 occasions in the T20 World Cup.
- The average first innings score in Sydney at this tournament so far is 188, the highest of the venues used. It's also the only venue where the magical figure of 200 has been breached in this edition of the tournament.
2 – Shaheen Afridi (48) requires two wickets to reach 50 wickets in the T20I format.
2 – Quinton de Kock (198) needs two sixes to get to 200 maximums in international cricket.
3 – Haris Rauf (97) needs three scalps to reach 100 wickets across formats.
6 – Babar Azam (344) needs six fours to complete 350 fours in T20Is.
6 – Iftikhar Ahmed (44) requires six fours to complete 50 fours in T20 internationals.
61 – Aiden Markram (3939) needs 61 runs to get to 4000 runs in international cricket.
4 – Mohammad Nawaz (46) is four scalps away from reaching 50 wickets in T20Is.
3 – Kagiso Rabada (447) is three wickets away from completing 450 scalps across formats.
1 – Mohammad Rizwan (149) is one game away from appearing in 150 international matches.
1 – Tabraiz Shamsi (99), if featured, will be playing his 100th international match.
3 – Mohammad Wasim (47) needs three scalps to reach 50 wickets across formats.
Dream11 Team
