Friday, March 29, 2024

Pakistan face South Africa in must-win match

Pakistan face South Africa in must-win match
June 6, 2017

BIRMINGHAM (92 News) – Pakistan will strive to stay alive in the competition as they take on South Africa in a must-win Group A ICC Champions Trophy match tomorrow.

The two teams are approaching the encounter with contrasting results in their tournament openers. Pakistan received a sever 124-run hammering from India while South Africa outclassed Sri Lanka by 96 runs.

Mickey Arthur has no doubt Pakistan will be "up for the fight" when they face his native South Africa in the Champions Trophy after a humiliating defeat by arch-rivals India.

Yet, worryingly for Pakistan coach Arthur, there is the potential for an even more lopsided match when they return to Edgbaston on Wednesday – and that's not simply because South Africa are top of the International Cricket Council (ICC) one-day international rankings while Pakistan are eighth.

Another defeat will virtually knock Pakistan out of the tournament but it will be a humongous task for them to stop the Proteas, who are ranked number one in the ODI rankings.

Pakistani batsmen drew flak from their past legends for their poor show against India and now have a point to prove.

South Africa have a fearsome top-order, led by ever- dependable Hashim Amla, who has scored runs in all formats of the game.

Captain AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis man the top and middle order and Pakistan bowlers have a task at hand to stop them.

 

Squads:

Pakistan: Sarfraz Khan (C), Ahmed Shahzad, Azhar Ali, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Sohail, Hasan Ali, Imad Wasim, Junaid Khan, Mohammed Amir, Mohammed Hafeez, Shadab Khan and Shoaib Malik.

 

South Africa: AB de Villiers (C), Hashim Amla, Farhaan Behardien, Quinton de Kock, Jean-Paul Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Imran Tahir, Keshav Maharaj, David Miller, Morne Morkel, Chris Morris, Wayne Parnell, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius and Kagiso Rabada.