The build up to the World T20 continues on Thursday when Pakistan and South Africa do battle in the first of three T20 internationals which will conclude the tour of the South Africans in Pakistan after they dropped the Test series earlier in the week.
Pakistan won that Test series 2-0 and will be hoping to take advantage of being at home here as they look to get up to speed ahead of the World T20 in which they would have every chance of being contenders in Indian conditions later in the year.
Pakistan
This will be the first time we will have seen Pakistan in action since they toured New Zealand just prior to Christmas. With the Pakistan Super League on the horizon this is a chance for the international players to get some white ball preparation in, but as well as that it is also an opportunity for players to establish themselves in the side ahead of what is likely to be a competitive World T20 later in the year.
Generally in this format of the game we are used to Pakistan being strong with the ball and delivering the goods in that department and it will be interesting if that remains the case because they got a little bit of tap in New Zealand. Usually their batting is more of a concern but having Babar Azam in situ makes that area of their game look a whole lot stronger. You get the impression this Pakistan side could have a good 2021 in this format.
South Africa
In many ways South Africa have been done up a little here. Their star players all left after the Test series to prepare for a series against Australia which now isn’t going to be going ahead so they are left with pure white ball specialists and a largely second string side which is far from ideal. The flip side of that is this is a chance for those players to show their worth ahead of the World T20 later in the season, albeit they are in conditions that aren’t the most familiar to them.
South Africa usually have the same traits as Pakistan in this format of the game in that they are usually very solid with the ball but a little more hit and miss with the bat. It will be interesting to see if those credentials remain with the changes to personnel that they have here. You would think they are going to need to score runs to be competitive in this environment and it remains to be seen if they have the quality to do that.
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Team News
With Babar Azam back Mohammad Rizwan may well give up the opening duties he undertook in New Zealand. There is talk of Shaheen Afridi getting a rest which could be Usman Qadir coming into the side. Faheem Ashraf may be on course for the all-rounder spot.
South Africa will be led in this series by Heinrich Klaasen with the only other genuinely senior players being David Miller and Tabraiz Shamsi. Reeza Hendricks and JJ Smuts are expected to feature while Dwaine Pretorius could get the all-rounder slot.
Betting
When I look down the likely South African side for this match there is little doubt in my mind that they are better with the bat than they are the ball so they are going to need to pile up the runs if they are going to win this opening match. Pakistan could completely change their attack for this match though so how up to speed with the white ball they will be remains to be seen and with three matches on this ground in four days I’m expecting a pretty good batting pitch.
The runs line in this match is 322.5 which feels a little on the low side given what I’m expecting to see in this one. The Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore is generally a high scoring ground and I don’t really see a reason why that won’t be the case here. Although South Africa are playing a second string side if you like, there are a few of their players who have played in the lesser T20 leagues around the world so they know their onions in this format of the game. I like the over here.
Tips
WON – Back Over 322.5 runs for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
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