SA vs PAK: 1st T20I, Match Prediction – Who will win today’s match?

Preview

After an exciting ODI series, South Africa and Pakistan are all set to lock horns in the three-match T20I series. The opening game is set to be played on Saturday, April 10, at The Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg. The visiting team won the ODI series and would be pretty much high on confidence.

The same can’t be said about the Proteas, who have lost quite a few of their players due to various reasons. Earlier, Temba Bavuma was ruled out due to a hamstring strain and Heinrich Klaasen has been named as the skipper.

It needs a herculean task on their part to roll over Babar Azam and Co. Pakistan, on the other hand, won’t have the services of Shadab Khan due to injury. But keeping in mind their strength, the visitors can be deemed as the firm favourites to take a 1-0 lead in the series.

Match Details

Match – South Africa vs Pakistan – 1st match

Venue – The Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg

Time – 6:00 PM IST, 10:00 AM GMT

Where to watch live – Star Sports Network, Hotstar

Pitch Report

The pitch at the Wanderers favoured the batters to a large extent in the ODI series as both teams managed scores in excess of 300. Even in T20Is, history suggests that the games have been pretty high-scoring. Batting second should be the way forward for the teams. The playing conditions would be sunny with a temperature around 26 degrees Celsius.

Avg score: 171 (29 T20Is at the Wanderers)

Record of chasing teams: Won – 14, Lost – 15, N/R – 0

Probable Playing XIs:

South Africa

Janneman Malan, Kyle Verreynne, Pite Van Biljon, Rassie van der Dussen, Heinrich Klaasen (c & wk), George Linde/Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Bjorn Fortuin, Lutho Sipamla, Beuran Hendricks, Tabraiz Shamsi

Bench: Aiden Markram, JJ Smuts, George Linde/Andile Phehlukwayo, Sisanda Magala, Lizaad Williams, Keshav Maharaj, Daryn Dupavillon

Pakistan

Mohammad Rizwan, Babar Azam (c), Haider Ali, Mohammad Hafeez, Sarfaraz Ahmed/Asif Ali, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Nawaz, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Usman Qadir

Bench: Imam-ul-Haq, Sarfaraz Ahmed/Asif Ali, Danish Aziz, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Abdullah Shafique

Head-to-Head

Overall

Played – 17 | South Africa – 9 | Pakistan – 8 |N/R – 0

Probable best batsman of the match

Babar Azam- South Africa

Babar Azam has ruled the roost in the T20 format for quite some time. He looked in impressive form in the ODI series where he became the Player of the Match in the last game at the SuperSport Park in Centurion. In T20Is, Babar has played 47 matches and scored 1730 runs with a top score of an unbeaten 97.

Probable best bowler of the match

Shaheen Shah Afridi– Pakistan

Shaheen Shah Afridi was a tad expensive in the ODI series, but he picked up six wickets as well. In the T20Is, the left-armer will again be leading Pakistan’s bowling attack. In T20 cricket, the southpaw has 103 wickets from 75 games, showing that he is more than good enough to make regular breakthroughs.

Today’s match prediction: Pakistan to win the match.

Disclaimer: This prediction is based on the understanding, analysis, and instinct of the author. While making your prediction, consider the points mentioned, and make your own decision.