Pakistan will be looking to end their tour of South Africa on a winning note when they take on the hosts in the ongoing second and final Test series. The second SA vs PAK Test will be played at Newlands, Cape Town from Friday (January 3, 2025).
The defeat ended Pak’s slim chances of qualifying for the World Test Championship final and they will now look for a win in the upcoming match to end the tour on a high note. After losing the T20I series, Pakistan bounced back in style to sweep the three-match ODI series.
Now they will also be looking at a similar performance in the second test. In the first test, Pak almost took South Africa by surprise but ended up losing a thrilling match by 2 wickets.
Defending 147 runs, Pakistan reduced South Africa to 19/3 and then 99 for 8. With South Africa still needing close to 50 runs, the visitors were favorites to win the Test. However, they failed to break the partnership between Marc Jansen and Kagiso Rabada.
The duo shared a 51-run unbeaten stand to take their team home. Earlier in the match, the visitors scored 211 and 237 runs in their two innings. On the other hand, South Africa scored 301 runs in their first innings.
With the visitors now looking to bounce back and claim a series win, we look at the Pakistan Playing 11 for the second Test.
Pakistan XI vs South Africa – 2nd Test, Pakistan Tour of South Africa 2024-25:
Openers: Shan Masood (c), Saim Ayub
Captain Shan Masood and Saim Ayub are expected to be starters in the Playing 11 for the upcoming match against South Africa. Both players started in the first game, but failed to convert them into big results.
In the first innings, Masood scored 17 runs while Ayub scored 14. Masood scored 28 runs while Ayub scored 27 runs in the 2nd innings. He will want to give his team a better start in the second test.
Middle-order batsmen and all-rounders: Babar Azam, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saud Shakeel, Salman Agha, Aamer Jamal
Former captain Babar Azam he failed to get going in the first innings, scoring only 4 runs. However, he did well in the second innings. In testing conditions, Babar played a crucial knock of 50 runs which helped Pakistan post a competitive total.
Kamran Ghulam once again impressed with the bat. He was the guests’ top scorer in the first innings. Ghulam scored 54 runs and was the only visiting batsman to score 50. However, he could not impress in the second innings and was out for just 4.
After scoring 14 runs in the first innings, Saud Shakeel top-scored for his side in the second innings, playing a crucial score of 84 runs. Mohammad Rizwan scored 27 runs in the first innings before being dismissed for 3 runs in the second innings.
Salman Agha could not do well with the bat in either of the two innings. He scored 18 in the first innings and 1 in the second. However, the right-handed batsman is expected to retain his place in the Pakistan Playing XI.
Aamer Jamal he played useful cameos in both innings, scoring 28 and 18. He took 2 wickets with the ball in the first innings.
Bowlers: Naseem Shah, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Abbas
The visitors are expected to have three frontline players in the playing 11 for the second Test. Naseem Shah and Khurram Shahzad took 4 wickets each in the first Test. Both players picked up 3 wickets each in the first innings before taking another wicket in the second innings.
On the other hand, Mohammad Abbas took just one wicket in the first innings before claiming 6 wickets in the second innings, which put Pakistan on the brink of a famous victory.
