The second T20 international between Pakistan and South Africa takes place in Lahore on Friday and in term of the series the Proteas are 1-0 up with two to play
This is a three match series with the third contest also staged at Lahore on Saturday. After that we will have 3 x ODI's.
The series opener was staged at Rawalpindi on Tuesday and South Africa came out on top by 55 runs.
Pakistan won the toss and opted to bowl first and South Africa posted 194/9. The tip 3 in the batting order, Reeza Hendriks (top scored with 60), de Kock (23) and de Zorzi (33) got the Proteas off to a brisk start before the middle order failed to fire until George Linde hit 36 off 22 balls. The Proteas hit 4 maximums and 21 boundaries. Mohammad Nawaz (3/26) and Saim Ayub (2/31) were the pick of the home sides bowlers.
The chase started well enough with Sahibzada Farhan (24) and Saim Ayub (37) laying a platform but Ayub’s score was never bettered by any of his colleagues and the innings closed on 139 all out in 18.1 overs. Pakistan cleared the ropes 6 times and hit 13 boundaries. Corbin Bosch (4/14) was outstanding with the ball and 3 wickets for Linde helped him earn the MoM award.
This was how the tams lined up in the first T20 on Tuesday
Pakistan: Saim Ayub, Sahibzada Farhan, Babar Azam, Salman Agha (c), Usman Khan (wk), Hasan Nawaz, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Abrar Ahmed
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Tony de Zorzi, Dewald Brevis, Matthew Breetzke, Donovan Ferreira (c), George Linde, Corbin Bosch, Lizaad Williams, Nandre Burger, Lungi Ngidi
Head to Head
The previous series between the teams came in South Africa in December 2024 and the Proteas won 2-0, coming out on top in the first 2 games before the third was washed out.
Overall the teams have met 25 times and Pakistan have 12 wins to South Africa’s 13.
The last time the teams played in Pakistan came in Lahore in Feb 2021 and Pakistan won the series 2-1.
The Betting
At the time of writing Pakistan are 8/10 with Betway to win the match and South Africa are even money.
Prices subject to change
The Verdict
That was a good win for the Proteas who started the first T20 as underdogs. Pakistan won the test match that was staged at Lahore on a turning deck at the start of this tour but on Tuesday’s showing at Rawalpindi I wouldn’t read too much into that.
A total match 4’s count of over 29.5 looks on to me and any further plays will be posted on the weekly cricket thread on our discussion forum.
Bet: Total match 4’s over 29.5 at 9/10 with Betway