Pakistan will be eyeing a historic whitewash when they take on South Africa in the third and final ODI of the ongoing series. The match is scheduled to be held on Sunday (December 22) at Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg.
With the series already decided, the visitors will now look to complete the famous whitewash. The visitors won the first ODI by three wickets before registering an 81-run win in the second match to take a 2-0 lead in the series.
Riding on fifties from Mohammad Rizwan (80), Babar Azam (73) and Kamran Ghulam (63), the visitors scored 329 runs in 49.5 overs. For South Africa, Koena Mafaka took 4 wickets while Marko Janssen took 3 wickets.
In reply, the Proteas were all out for just 248 runs in 43.1 overs. They were 185/4 at one stage before David Miller's sacking opened the floodgates and led to a collapse. For Pakistan, Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah impressed with the ball, taking 4 and 3 wickets respectively.
With the visitors now looking to secure another win, we take a look at Pakistan's side playing 11 for the third goal SA vs PAK ODI.
Pakistan to play 11 matches against South Africa – 3rd ODI, Pakistan's tour of South Africa 2024-25:
Editorials: Saem Ayoub, Abdullah Shafiq
Saim Ayub and Abdullah Shafiq look set to open the 11 for the visitors in the third ODI. Ayub had a wonderful outing with bats in the series. In the first match, he scored a match-winning century before scoring 25 runs in the second ODI.
Unlike Ayub, Abdullah fought a disastrous campaign. The visiting openers were out for a duck in both matches and will be desperate to turn things around in the third ODI.
Middle-order and allrounders: Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan (c & wk), Kamran Ghulam, Salman Agha, Irfan Khan
The visiting team management is likely to retain the same middle order in Pakistan's playing XI for the next match.
Their senior batsmen – Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan – starred with the bat in the second ODI and will look to produce a similar performance in the third match as well. Rizwan scored 80 runs while Babar scored 73 runs.
Salman Agha, who played a match-winning knock of 82 runs in the first ODI, scored 33 runs in the second match. Kamran Ghulam had a good outing with the bat as well, scoring 63 runs while Irrfan Khan managed to score just 15 runs. Irfan failed to impress with the bat in the first ODI as well but is likely to retain his place in Pakistan's playing XI.
Players: Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Mohammad Hasnain, Abrar Ahmed
The bowlers played a big role in the visitors' wins in the first two matches. Shaheen Afridi led the attack brilliantly. After taking just one wicket in the first match, he took 4 wickets in the second ODI.
Naseem Shah had gone wicketless in the first ODI before taking 3 wickets in the second match. Haris Rauf has had a disappointing campaign in the series so far. He is yet to take a wicket in the series and is expected to make way for Mohammad Hasnain in the Pakistan playing 11. Abrar Ahmed has picked up 4 wickets in the series so far and looks set to retain his place in the team.
