Shake South Africa chose to bat against Pakistan
South Africa elected to bat first after winning the toss in Durban.
In the first of three T20Is, South Africa captain Heinrich Klaasen said he expected the wicket to be flat. “We’re hoping for a big score and for the guys to have a chance tonight,” he said. “We need to expand our group before the 2026 World Cup, and we want to see where the boys are. Pakistan have a quality bowling attack and have played good
cricket in Australia and Zimbabwe.”
South Africa have a revamped squad with none of the players involved in the test series victory over Sri Lanka, which concluded on Monday in Gqeberha, in the mix.
There are several T20I stalwarts in the team, with Klaasen, David Miller, Rassie van der Dussen and Reeza Hendricks starting, while all-rounder George Linde has returned to the international set-up after 2021.
From the South African point of view, Anrich Nortje was ruled out of the match “due to a bruise on the big toe of his left foot”, while Tabraiz Shamsi was not considered for the selection “as he joined the squad today after the conclusion of the Global Super League”.
Mohammad Rizwan, Pakistan’s captain, acknowledged that he too would have batted first. “We have some young people and some with experience. But we want to see how to bring players from the national circuit and turn them into future stars,” he said. “All the fast bowlers love to bowl in South Africa and we get a lot of support here.”
Salman Ali Agha, who captained Pakistan in the recent T20I series in Zimbabwe, dropped to the bench, with Pakistan playing an extended bowling attack with Abbas Afridi at number 7 and two spinners in Sufiyan Muqeem and Abrar Ahmed.
South Africa: Rassie van der Dussen, Reeza Hendricks, Mathew Breetzke, David Miller, Heinrich Klaasen (captain, week), Donovan Ferreira, George Linde, Andile Simelane, Nqaba Peter, Kwena Maphaka, Ottneil Baartman
Pakistan: Mohammad Rizwan (captain, week), Babar Azam, Saim Ayub, Usman Khan, Tayyab Tahir, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Sufiyan Muqeem, Abrar Ahmed
Source link
