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South Africa will be taking on Pakistan in the all-important third T20I of the ongoing four-match series at the SuperSport Park in Centurion on Wednesday (April 14).
The series is now nicely set up after the Proteas followed their chastening defeat in the first T20I with a dominating performance and win in the second T20I. The scoreline is 1-1 at the end of the Johannesburg leg of the four-match series.
The second T20I on Monday (April 12) saw South Africa come out triumphant by six wickets, having put in a strong all-round performance despite missing multiple of their first-choice cricketers due to the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 in India.
The visitors picked up regular breakthroughs after losing the toss and being asked to bowl first. They restricted Pakistan to a manageable score of 140/9, with left-arm spinner George Linde (3/23) proving the chief destroyer with the ball. Lizaad Williams (3/35) was also among the wickets. The rest of the support cast, including Beuran Hendricks (0/27), Tabraiz Shamsi (1/22) and Sisanda Magala (1/32), kept a leash on run-scoring from their end.
A flurry of wickets held back Pakistan, as only Mohammad Hafeez (32) could bat fluently on the day and skipper Babar Azam (50) was forced to try and bat deep with a run-a-ball half-century.
With all the momentum behind them, South Africa looked to play aggressively as a batting unit. Opening batsman Aiden Markram (54) batted terrifically through his knock, including seven fours and three sixes. Stand-in captain Heinrich Klaasen (36*) and Linde (20*) also contributed to their team’s cause and took Proteas home with six wickets and six overs to spare.
Wrist-spinner Usman Qadir (2/26) was the pick of the bowlers for Pakistan, even as the rest of the attack struggled for control and consistency. Mohammad Hasnain (1/25) and Hasan Ali (1/16) did take a wicket apiece as well but proved expensive at the same time. So did Shaheen Afridi (3/30), Mohammad Nawaz (0/29) and Faheem Ashraf (1/14).
The result in South Africa’s favour has spiced up the series when everyone expected Pakistan to continue dominating their talented but weakened opposition.
Another interesting contest is in the offing when the two teams next meet in the third T20I of the series.
Key Players
Aiden Markram batted tremendously for his half-century in the second T20I in Johannesburg. The classy right-hand batsman made 54 runs off 30 deliveries to help South Africa put the Pakistan attack under a lot of pressure. Markram hasn’t always been Proteas’ first-choice opening batter in T20I cricket but seems to be enjoying the trust from the management and selectors in Quinton de Kock’s absence. Markram, who had produced a fifty in the first T20I, now boasts of record in his young career in the shortest format. Markram has scored 123 runs from his 4 T20I outings with a strike rate of 155.7.
George Linde, the left-arm spinner, bowled an impactful spell in the second T20I and played a pivotal role in helping his team bounce back in the series. Linde has been fantastic with the ball for South Africa in his young T20I career so far and has also chipped in with useful runs lower down the order. The 29-year-old has taken five wickets from his 5 T20I matches while bowling with an economy rate of 6.68 runs per over. He has an impressive strike rate of 155.81 with the bat in the format.
Babar Azam made a run-a-ball half-century in the last match, which was criticised for its tempo. However, in his defence, the Pakistan skipper can say he had to drop down his guard and try to bat deep as the visitors lost a flurry of wickets around him. Babar remains one of the finest batsmen doing the rounds in modern-day cricket. The 26-year-old has made 1,794 runs in his overall T20I career for Pakistan, with a strike rate of 128.97. The slowness of his innings in the second T20I was also more of an aberration for Babar, who has generally been more explosive in the last couple of years.
Mohammad Hafeez was Pakistan’s most fluent batsman on show in the second T20I and scored 32 runs off 23 deliveries before being dismissed by Linde. Hafeez has only gotten better with time and age as a T20 batsman. He has a terrific record in the shortest format to his name in the last couple of years. In his 10 T20Is played in the year 2020, Hafeez had made 415 runs at an average of 83.00 and strike-rate of 152.57.
Prediction
Having gone back to the winning ways, South Africa will be determined to continue walking the path. Pakistan must be hurting after being made to look helpless by their talented but flawed opposition.
Another interesting tussle is on the cards with both teams eyeing a series lead that will make sure they can’t go down in the four-match rubber and put the other side under massive pressure heading into the fourth T20I.
Given that Pakistan are at full strength, they are still favorites and could bounce back strongly.
