South Africa vs Pakistan Match Preview, 3rd T20I

South Africa will take on Pakistan in the third T20I at The Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg. The hosts won the first game by 11 runs. The second T20I will be held in Centurion which will decide the course of the series as the two teams will play on consecutive days. The tour will also act as a preparation for the upcoming Champions Trophy 2025 with three ODIs to follow after the conclusion of the T20I series. 

Speaking of the first game, the Proteas were clinical with both bat and ball as they scored 183/9 batting first and defended the target just in time. Pakistan’s spinner leaked runs and that will be a concern for the hosts in the series. Though Haris Rauf picked wickets, he was also on the expensive side. In the second game, South Africa beat Pakistan by seven wickets. Reeza Hendricks won the Player of the Match award for his spectacular knock of 117 runs off 63 balls. 

Match Details

Pitch Report:

The Wanderers is a good deck to bat on and the batters will find the ball coming onto the bat easily. Spinners too have a little say here and the high altitude will make the ball sail swiftly into the stands. But pacers can generate enough bounce on this pitch.

Head-to-Head Record

Predicted Playing XIs

Pakistan:

Mohammad Rizwan(w/c), Babar Azam, Saim Ayub, Usman Khan, Tayyab Tahir, Irfan Khan, Abbas Afridi, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Sufiyan Muqeem, Abrar Ahmed

South Africa:

Rassie van der Dussen, Reeza Hendricks, Matthew Breetzke, David Miller, Heinrich Klaasen (w/c), Donovan Ferreira, George Linde, Andile Simelane, Nqabayomzi Peter, Kwena Maphaka, Ottneil Baartman