Preview: Do-or-die clash for Pakistan as they take on South Africa
It's a must-win game for Pakistan and they have a potent, in-form South African attack, fresh off devouring India, to conquer. That Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, the two pillars of their batting line-up, have struggled sums up Pakistan's woes this tournament.
If the loss to India was a bitter pill to swallow, following that was a nail-biting finish against Zimbabwe, where they ended up on the wrong side. A convincing win against Netherlands, their first in Australia in this format, gave them a bit of a relief.
Two narrow losses to kick start the campaign isn't exactly how Pakistan would have planned for their tournament to go, and it has left them needing to win their big game against South Africa and hoping other results go their way.
But South Africa could pose big headaches to this Pakistan team. They are the only unbeaten team in this T20 World Cup, and more importantly, they have shown strengths in different departments to possibly go all the way this time around.
For one, the Proteas batting line-up is a never-ending string of pace hitters, who don't just counter pace, but smash it. The South African middle order is arguably the best in this tournament and it has stepped up more than once already in this short event.
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However, Pakistan would hope to use the spin duo of Mohammad Nawaz and Shadab Khan to stifle South Africa's charge in the middle overs, especially if the SCG offers turn, which is likely given the ground's history.
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Pakistan's reliance on high pace could well backfire against South Africa. On top of that, the Proteas can dish them out at equally good pace with the ball. Anrich Nortje has been pushing the speed gun consistently. Lungi Ngidi comes off the back of a Player of the Match showing against India and Wayne Parnell was equally effective that game.
Kagiso Rabada hasn't even hit his best yet but South Africa are already on a roll. That speaks volumes about the mountain of work that awaits Pakistan. Their best bet would be to dent South Africa early, which could force the middle order to delay their attack, like against India.
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While they were bailed out by Aiden Markram and David Miller that game, Pakistan will know it's probably South Africa's weak spot this tournament. The absence of Dwaine Pretorius, who was injured and ruled out pre-tournament, has made their tail a bit longer than they would like even if Parnell is more than a decent all-rounder to have.
For Pakistan, the template remains pretty much the same with the bat. Babar and Rizwan need to ward off South Africa's quicks with the new ball to give them a shot at a decent score.
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Pakistan: Mohammad Rizwan, Babar Azam (capt), Mohammad Haris, Shan Masood, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah
**South Africa:**Quinton de Kock, Temba Bavuma (capt), Rilee Rossouw, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Wayne Parnell, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi
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David Miller: The South African has matured into one of the best finishers in the world, combining an ability to hold the innings together at a good rate through the middle overs before going berserk in the death overs. Against a quality bowling attack, the Proteas will need their main man to step up again.
Babar Azam: The South African attack screams of pace and if Pakistan are to counter them, they need skipper Babar Azam to step out of his poor form and go big. Pakistan thrive on his, and Rizwan's, starts and with all on the line in this contest, they'll hope Babar stands between the middle-order and South African quicks.
Captaincy Pick: Rilee Rossouw
Rilee Rossouw reached his second T20I ton of the year during South Africa’s second T20 World Cup 2022 match against Bangladesh. Incredibly, his 56-ball knock consisted of eight maximums and seven fours. In 2022, the southpaw has scored 340 runs for South Africa in eight T20Is at a terrific strike rate of 182.8. Though he got out for a two-ball duck against India in his most recent match, he is expected to make a storming comeback against Pakistan in the upcoming fixture.
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Must-Have Pick: Anrich Nortje
Speedster Anrich Nortje has bagged six wickets at an average of 7.17 in three T20 World Cup 2022 games. The right-arm bowler accounted for four Bangladesh wickets in Sydney to lead South Africa to a massive 104-run victory. Nortje made his T20I debut in 2019 and since then he has been a part of 27 encounters. In 26 innings, he has claimed 30 wickets at a strike rate of 17.7 and an economy of 7.18.
Differential Pick: Mohammad Nawaz
Left-arm spinner Mohammad Nawaz has picked up only two wickets in the tournament so far. While he conceded 42 runs against India, he bowled a wicketless two-over spell against Netherlands. With the bat, Nawaz has scored 31 runs in a couple of innings in the competition. In total, the 28-year-old has represented Pakistan in 51 T20Is, grabbing 46 scalps at a strike rate of 21.3 apart from accumulating 385 runs at an average of 18.33. Nawaz could be due a big performance this game.