Table of Contents
The Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium is ready to host Pakistan and South Africa in the second Test of the two-match series from Thursday (February 04).
Pakistan are ahead in the series with 1-0 after winning the first Test in Karachi by seven wickets. The likes of Fawad Alam, Yasir Shah and Nauman Ali were the main heroes in the match.
On the other hand, South Africa shall be looking to bounce back in the upcoming Test to level the series.
Pitch report:
The pitch at Rawalpindi offers assistance to seamers as well as batters. As many as 10 matches have been played at this venue where teams bowling first have won six while batting first has only resulted in one triumph. Veteran Pakistan pacer Waqar Younis with 23 scalps is the leading wicket-taker at this ground. At the same time, Saeed Anwar with 546 runs is the highest run-getter here.
Head to head record:
Matches played: 27 | Pakistan: 5 | South Africa: 15 | Draw: 7 | Tied: 0
Playing Combination:
Pakistan
The home team won the first game quite comfortably. Nauman Ali and Yasir Shah bagged seven wickets each to dismantle the Proteas batting unit whereas Fawad Alam scored 113 runs in the series opener. The hosts would surely not change the winning combination.
PAK XI – Babar Azam (c), Abid Ali, Imran Butt, Azhar Ali, Fawad Alam, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Faheem Ashraf, Yasir Shah, Hasan Ali, Nauman Ali, Shaheen Afridi.
South Africa
South Africa did not perform up to the desired expectation in the first Test. Senior players like Faf du Plessis and skipper Quinton de Kock have to step up in order to level the series. The visitors would look to field the same XI as the youngsters did a relatively good job in the Karachi Test.
SA XI – Quinton de Kock (c & wk), Dean Elgar, Aiden Markram, Faf du Plessis, Rassie van der Dussen, Temba Bavuma, George Linde, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje.
