South Africa and Pakistan are set to battle against each other in Match 36 of the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. The match will occur at the Sydney Cricket Stadium on Thursday, November 3.
Both the teams have faced each other on 21 occasions in T20I cricket and have a very tight head-to-head record as Pakistan won 11 times while the Proteas won 10 times.
In the T20 World Cup, the teams have met on three instances in which Pakistan has asserted pure dominance winning all three of them.
Team Preview
South Africa
The Proteas almost have a dream world cup campaign so far, except for the washout against Zimbabwe. They first beat Bangladesh by a huge margin, and then the tournament favourites India in a close last encounter.
The Proteas are currently the table-toppers of their group and have a very bright chance of qualifying for the playoffs. They have done well in each and every department of the game.
The way how their bowling unit performed against India was just outstanding. They leaked just 133 runs in 20 overs against the strong batting order of India. They will be looking for another win to seal their playoff spot.
Pakistan
Pakistan has lost two very close matches against India and Zimbabwe. Both the matches went till the last ball of the game, but the men in green failed to get over the line. They have disappointed their fans a lot, especially in the game against Zimbabwe, one of the biggest upsets in the T20 World Cup history.
South Africa’s win against India has further hurt their chances of qualifying for the playoffs. India will likely win their remaining matches, and South Africa needs just one more win to qualify.
They won their previous match against the Netherlands and got those first two points.
All their remaining matches are do-or-die, and they will still have to depend on others’ fate for a playoff spot.Â
Pitch Report
The SCG has hosted 15 T20I matches and 4 of the current edition of the T20 World Cup. All four were won by the team batting first and by huge margins. So it is clear that the team defending the total definitely has an advantage.
It has been observed in the matches played here that the SCG is an excellent batting surface, but run-scoring is not that easy in early and middle overs. The pitch is not like other Australian grounds where the ball gets a good amount of bounce and carry but rather has a turn for the spinners, who are very effective after the powerplay.
Probable Playing XIs
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (WK), Temba Bavuma (C), Rilee Rossouw, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Wayne Parnell, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi
Pakistan: Mohammad Rizwan (WK), Babar Azam (C), Shan Masood, Haider Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah
Players To Watch Out For
Quinton De Kock
Quinton de Kock has hit the form just at the right time after the bad phase he had this year in T20i cricket. He scored 248 runs in the last 5 innings, with an explosive strike rate of 165.33.
He started this tournament in a very destructive mode scoring an uneaten 47 off 18 balls against Zimbabwe. He almost won it for the Proteas, but the match ended in a washout.
Rilee Rossouw
Rilee Rossouw struck the first century of this ICC T20 World Cup 2022 to give his team a dominating 104-run win against Bangladesh.
It was his second consecutive century in T20Is. However, he scored a duck against India in the last match.
Making a comeback to the game after a long gap of six years, Rossouw has been in the form of his life. He scored 340 runs this year with an average of 56.67 and a strike rate of 182.80. His aggressive brand of batting has provided much-needed stability to South Africa’s top order.
Anrich Nortje
The 28-year-old fast bowler has been very impressive in T20 World Cup 2022 taking 6 wickets in 3 games with an economy of 4.53. He is one of the most important cogs of the lethal pace attack of the Proteas.Â
His 4/10 at Sydney against Bangladesh were the best bowling figures by a Proteas bowler in the history of the T20 World Cup. He also bowled a very economical spell against India, giving just 23 runs off 4 overs and took the wicket of Deepak Hooda.
Mohammed Rizwan
Despite his poor form in the world cup, he is still one of the most successful batters in the game’s shortest format. He has been second highest run scorer this year, scoring 888 runs with an average of 49.33, but his strike rate has been very low.
The keeper-batter hit his highest tournament score in the last game against the Netherlands. It will be his responsibility to provide a good start. He will relish the challenge of going up against the strong Proteas attack.
Haris Rauf
The right-arm fast bowler has taken four wickets from the three games in this tournament so far with an economy of 5.27. Rauf is one of the most consistent T20 bowlers at the moment.
He has taken the most number of wickets among pacers since 2021 and has emerged as a very dangerous bowler in recent times. Rauf will be responsible for breaking the strong Proteas top order by providing early breakthroughs.
SA vs PAK Dream11 Team
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Match Prediction
The Proteas are undefeated in this edition and are a very strong and balanced team, while Pakistan is struggling and giving away close victories to their opponents.Â
So we predict South Africa to win the match, and Quinton De Kock might be the top performer.
