The third match of the Tri-nation series will be played between Pakistan and South Africa on 12 February in Karachi.
Match Preview:
Coming of defeat against New Zealand this will be a very important game for both sides as the winner will march on to face New Zealand in the final of Tri Nation series.
Pakistan after a very good run of form in ODIs lost against New Zealand in the opening ODI of the tri nation series. The batting performance and death bowling was a major concern for them in that game.
As evident in last game Pakistan are missing their best batter since the last year. Since last WC Saim Ayub has scored 515 runs in 9 innings at an average of 64.3. Only Rutherford has scored at a better average among players with 400+ runs in this period.
Pakistan has been lacking clarity among the options they have in the middle order. Since the last world cup 2 different players at 5, 3 different players at 6 and 3 different players at 7 have been tried by Pakistan in 7 innings.
South Africa who did put up a better fight against New Zealand with most of their first choice players not being there due to SA20 will feel more confident with their star batter Henrich Klassen coming back. Klassen was by far best batter for South Africa in the recently concluded ODI series against Pakistan where he scored 244 runs at an average of 88 and striking at 123.36.
Their lead spinner in all three formats Keshav Maharaj will also be joining them for the game against Pakistan. He will be very crucial for them given the struggles of Pakistan against left arm orthodox bowling.
Since the last world cup players like Babar Azam, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Rizwan, and Agha Salman have struggled against the SLA.
However, Pakistan lately won an ODI series against South Africa in South Africa and if anything it will make them confidence to make a comeback in the ongoing tri-nation series.
Pitch and weather report:
Karachi has been a high scoring venue In last 10 years with an average first innings score of 305. There is some help for spinners here. It has shown a bit a chasing biased with 5 of last 8 ODIs being won by the chasing team.
Head-to-head record:
Pakistan and South Africa have played each other in 86 ODIs. Out of which 33 have been Won by Pakistan and 52 have been won by South Africa. While one match ended without a result.
Playing XI:
Pakistan (confirmed):
Fakhar Zaman , Babar Azam , Saud Shakeel, M Rizwan (C) (WK), Agha Salman , Tayyab Tahir, Khushdil Shah , Shaheen Afridi , Naseem Shah, M Hasnain , Abrar Ahmad
South Africa Probable:
M Breetzkee , Temba Bavuma (C),Jason Smith , Kyle Verreynne, Henrich Klassen (WK) , Wian Mulder, Ethan Bosch , Keshav Mahraj, Kwena Maphaka , Lungi Ngidi , Tabraiz Shamsi
Prediction:
Given Pakistan won their last ODI series against South Africa, it is expected that Pakistan will win the upcoming ODI to set a thrilling final against the BlackCaps.
Where to Watch:
Pakistan: Ten Sports, A Sports, Tamasha, Myco, Tapmad
North America: Willow TV
MENA & South Asia: Cricbuzz, Tapmad
Bangladesh: T Sports
UK: Sky Sports, ARY Digital
India: Sony, Fancode
Sub-Saharan Africa: SuperSport
Sri Lanka: Dialog TV
