Pakistan will compete South Africa In the first match of the three-match T20 series. This article provides details about the playing 11 of South Africa vs Pakistan for the first match of the series.
South Africa Playing XI vs Pakistan- 1st T20I, South Africa tour of Pakistan 2025
Openers: Quinton de Kock (wk), Luan-Dre Pretorius
South Africa, coming off a win in the last Test against Pakistan, will be looking to continue the visitors’ good form when they face them in the first of three T20Is.
The Proteas have announced a squad that is full of T20 specialists and will be led by Donovan Ferreira, who also led the side in the one-off T20I against Namibia.
South Africa will be looking to get back to winning ways, having lost their last two full T20 matches, including a defeat against Namibia.
The runners-up of the 2024 T20 World Cup can take confidence from the fact that they are familiar with the conditions, although conditions do not matter much in this format of the game.
Moreover, the visitors are coming into the series on the back of a memorable Test win after three consecutive defeats, which will also boost their confidence.
South Africa are expected to open the innings with Quinton de Kock, who recently reversed his decision to retire from the white-ball format of the game, and Luan-Dre Pretorius.
The opening pair will have the responsibility of giving the team a good start and helping them reach a good score while batting first.
Middle-order batsmen and all-rounders: Reeza Hendricks, Tony De Zorzi, Dewald Brewis, George Linde, Donovan Ferreira (captain)
Due to the composition of the team, Africa are likely to field four openers, with Reeza Hendricks and Tony De Zorzi batting at number three and four or alternating depending on the situation.
Following these two will be Dewald Brevis, who has been in the form of his life in the last few months, scoring a T20I century against Australia and an aggressive half-century in challenging conditions against Pakistan in Test cricket.
Africa will also rely on George Linde, who will play the role of a spin bowling all-rounder and provide some powerful blows to captain Donovan Ferreira.
As is always the case, the responsibility of scoring most of the runs for the team when batting first or chasing the target will be on the top six batsmen.
Bowlers: Bjorn Fortuyn, Nandre Berger, Lizaad Williams, Lungi Ngidi
If we talk about Africa’s bowling lineup, it has some bowlers who may not have played many international matches but have a lot of experience when it comes to T20 cricket.
The African bowling attack includes names like Bjorn Fortuyn, Nandre Berger, Lizaad Williams and George Linde, who are capable of turning the match in their team’s favour.
Due to lack of experience at the international level, senior bowler Lungi Ngidi will have to take responsibility and lead the bowling.
The Proteas will want the bowlers to deliver a spirited performance and restrict the opposition to a targetable score.
