Pakistan lookto turn tide by winning T20 series

KARACHI: World No. 1 Pakistan would be looking to end an otherwise disappointing tour of South Africa on a successful note by winning the three-match Twenty20 International series which gets underway in Cape Town from Friday (today).

The Pakistanis, who were blanked 3-0 in the Test series, lost the five-match ODI contest 3-2. However, they have a good chance of winning the T20I series against the Proteas even in the absence of regular captain Sarfraz Ahmed, who is serving a four-match suspension.

The South Africans will be looking to capitalise on the momentum after winning the ODI series decider on Wednesday.David Miller is back in the squad and South Africa will look to him, De Kock and captain Faf Du Plessis for some big hitting to match the tourists.

The hosts are resting their experienced bowling attack which means that Dale Steyn, Rabada, Philander and Tahir are all left out. They have called up talented youngster Lutho Sipamla and the likes of Beuren Hendricks, Junior Dala and Tabraiz Shamsi, who are all expected to play.

Pakistan come into the T20I series as the top-ranked team in the world in this format of the game and having won 17 of their last 18 T20 international matches so confidence is superb despite having lost the Test and ODI series.

The team will not be too dissimilar to that which ended the ODI series although Pakistan will be skippered by Shoaib Malik and they may consider rejigging the batting order with the in-form Imad Wasim potentially coming up the order for some pinch-hitting.

Hussain Talat is one candidate to come into the side as he offers another part-time bowling option with Mohammad Amir possibly making way, while Mohammad Rizwan is under some pressure to perform and take advantage of this opportunity in Sarfraz’s absence.

South Africa edged the ODI series with a comfortable win in the final match but the series went back and forth with both teams having their moments. Pakistan will not be too disillusioned by that loss and they enter this format of the game where they have been the standout team in the international scene for the last 12 months. Despite losing the ODI series, they did have the ability to hit bigger than the hosts, and they can get off to a good start with a win in the series opener. —with inputs from agencies

Today’s match

Pakistan vs South Africa 09:00 pm (PST)