PAARL – Pakistan will take on South Africa in first game of a key three-match ODI series at the Boland Park in Paarl today at 5PM.
The second and third fixture of the series will be played at Newlands Cricket Ground, Cape Town and The Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg on 17 and 19 December, respectively.
South Africa had won the T20I series 2-0 after the third T20I was washed out on 14 December. The ODI series holds a lot of significance for both the teams as they look to fine tune their preparations for the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy in February and March 2025 in Pakistan.
Pakistan’s squad has been bolstered with the return of pacer Naseem Shah, opening batter Abdullah Shafique and top-order batter Kamran Ghulam while wrist-spinner Sufyan Moqim and Usman Khan have received their maiden ODI call-ups. This will be Mohammad Rizwan’s third ODI series as skipper of the side as he has started his stint with back to back ODI series wins over Australia and Zimbabwe.
In their last bilateral face-off in the 50-over format, Pakistan won the three-match series 2-1 in South Africa in April 2021.
Pakistan skipper Mohammad Rizwan called it a vital ODI series in terms of team’s preparations for the ICC Champions Trophy, adding that “…with Allah’s help we will look to emulate our performances from the ODI series against Australia”.
Squads
Pakistan: Mohammad Rizwan (captain & wk), Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hasnain, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufyan Moqim, Tayyab Tahir and Usman Khan (wk)
South Africa: Temba Bavuma (captain), Aiden Markram, Andile Phehlukwayo, David Miller, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Kwena Maphaka, Marco Jansen, Ottneil Baartman, Rassie van der Dussen, Ryan Rickelton, Tabraiz Shamsi, Tony de Zorzi, and Tristan Stubbs
