Kingsmead is the venue for the first of three T20 Internationals between South Africa and Pakistan and we take a look at the squads, recent form and the all important betting
This is a 3 match series with Centurion hosting the second contest on Friday and the series concludes at The Wanderers on Saturday. Next week there will be 3 ODI's and the first of 2 test matches starts at Centurion on Boxing Day.
Let's start with the T20 squads.
South Africa: Heinrich Klaasen (captain), Ottneil Baartman, Matthew Breetzke, Donovan Ferreira, Reeza Hendricks, Patrick Kruger, George Linde, Kwena Maphaka, David Miller, Anrich Nortje, Nqaba Peter, Ryan Rickelton, Tabraiz Shamsi, Andile Simelane and Rassie van der Dussen
Pakistan: Mohammad Rizwan (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Jahandad Khan, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Hasnain, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Omair Bin Yousuf, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufyan Moqim, Tayyab Tahir, Usman Khan
South Africa Recent Form
The Proteas lost 3-1 at home to India in November. They lost the opener by 61 runs at this venue and then squared things up with a 3 wicket win at St. Georges. India went back in front with an 11 run victory at Centurion and then sealed the series with a 135 run victory at The Wanderers,
Prior to that they shared a 2 match series with Ireland 1-1, winning the first match by 8 wickets but losing the second by 10 runs and those games were played in UAE. In August the Proteas were comfortably beaten by West Indies in all 3 matches in the Caribbean.
Pakistan Recent Form
Pakistan were in Zimbabwe on route to SA and they won a 3 match series 2-1. They won the first 2 matches by margins of 57 runs and then 10 wickets before Zim edged the final contest by 2 wickets.
Earlier in November Pakistan lost 3-0 in Australia, going down by 29 runs, 13 runs and finally 7 wickets
Head to Head
Overall the teams have met 22 times in this format with South Africa winning 10 to Pakistan's 12
The teams haven't met since November 2022 in a World Cup pool match in Australia which Pakistan won by 33 runs (DLS).
The Venue, Kingsmead, Durban
The Proteas have played 14 T20's at this venue, winning 5, losing 7 and no result was possible in the other 2.
The most recent T20 here came on 8th November, India posted a bat first total of 202/8 with the Proteas reply ending on 141 all out with no batsmen making it into the 30's.
For the weather forecast click here
The Betting
At the time of writing South Africa are 15/20 to win with BetXchange and Pakistan can be backed at 11/10.
Heinrich Klaasen is 5/2 to score a 50 and Babar Azam is 19/10
Prices subject to change
The Verdict
The Proteas are missing a few regulars who were involved in the test series against Sri Lanka which concludes a day before this match takes place.
I'm focusing on the Player Performance market and I'll side with Haris Rauf to beat his quote with a wicket or 2 and a few runs whilst for the Proteas van der Dussen is my go to man
Bets: Player Performance Haris Rauf, over 20.5 points at 17/20 with BetXchange
Player Performance van der Dussen, over 24.5 points at 17/20 with BetXchanage
