Third T20I: Shaheen dismisses de Kock, Pretorius in first over

Left-arm quick Shaheen Shah Afridi gave major damage to South Africa’s batting order, removing Quinton de Kock and Lhuan-dre Pretorius in the first over as both sides came face-to-face in the T20I series decider at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium on Saturday.

After winning the toss, Pakistan elected to bowl first against South Africa.

Playing XIs

Pakistan: Saim Ayub, Sahibzada Farhan, Babar Azam, Salman Ali Agha (c), Usman Khan (wk), Hasan Nawaz, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Salman Mirza and Usman Tariq.

South Africa: Reeza Hendricks, Quinton de Kock(w), Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Dewald Brevis, Matthew Breetzke, Donovan Ferreira(c), George Linde, Corbin Bosch, Andile Simelane, Lizaad Williams and Ottneil Baartman.

Head-to-head

Pakistan and South Africa have come face-to-face 27 times in T20Is, with their head-to-head record hanging in balance as the two teams are tied with 13 victories each.

• Matches: 27
• Pakistan: 13
• South Africa: 13
• No Result: 1

Form Guide

The two teams enter the high-stakes fixture with similar momentum, having registered equally emphatic victories against each other in the first two matches of the ongoing series.

In the series opener in Rawalpindi on Tuesday, the Proteas crushed the hosts by a massive 55-run margin by bowling them out for a modest total of 139 while defending a 195-run target.

The home side responded with an equally resounding triumph as they booked South Africa for a mere 110 in 19.2 overs before chasing down the modest target for the loss of just one wicket and 41 balls to spare.

Notably, the two teams last played a bilateral series in the shortest format in December last year, which the home side, South Africa, won 2-0 as the third fixture was abandoned due to rain.

Pakistan: W, L, L, W, W (most recent first)

South Africa: L, W, L, A, L