RSA Vs SL, 2nd Test: South Africa's Kagiso Rabada celebrates with his teammates after dismissing Sri Lanka's captain Dhananjaya de Silva | Photo: AP/Themba Hadebe RSA Vs SL, 2nd Test: South Africa's Kagiso Rabada celebrates with his teammates after dismissing Sri Lanka's captain Dhananjaya de Silva | Photo: AP/Themba Hadebe

South Africa will host Pakistan in the first Test of the two-match series at the Supersport Park in Centurion from Thursdayfb777, December 26. (Prediction | More Cricket News)

South Africa, who are still in the running for the World Test Championship final come into the first game as hot favourites and have also named an all-out pace attack, expecting a spicy surface.

“The final was really intense; the Chinese were breathing down our necks throughout the game and made it really difficult for us to create a clear goal scoring chance,” Harmanpreet said in a Hockey India release.

On Tuesday, deep inside Chinese Mongolia, the Harmanpreet Singh-led Men in Blue did just about enough to beat a spirited Chinese side. The occasion: the final of the Asian Champions Trophy 2024.

Pakistan, who have been ruled out of the competition, will look to crash the Proteas house party, and will be hopeful of riding the momentum wave from the ODIs, where they humbled the hosts 3-0.

South Africa vs Pakistan 4th Test: Probable line-ups

South Africa: Tony de Zorzi, Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs, Temba Bavuma (captain), David Bedingham, Kyle Verreynne (wicketkeeper), Marco Jansenfb777, Corbin Bosch, Kagiso Rabada, Dane Paterson

South Africa Vs Pakistan, 1st Test: H2H Record, Key Stats, Probable Playing XIs, Centurion Match Prediction

BY Outlook Sports Desk

Pakistan: Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Salman Ali Agha, Babar Azam, Saim Ayub, Aamir Jamal, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Kamran Ghulam, Naseem Shah, Noman Ali, Khurram Shahzad

Before the action begins, here are three key battles to look forward to from the first SA vs PAK Test at Supersport Park in Centurion.

Babar Azam Vs Kagiso Rabada 

Is there any better battle in Test cricket than a team’s batting backbone going against one of the most terrifying quicks in world cricket. Well, to add to it, Kagiso Rabada has 550 international wickets, and is just 29.

Babar Azam, on the other hand, is coming off two back-to-back fifties from the ODI series.

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This battle between bat and ball could ultimately have a massive say in the outcome of the series, and if given a small opening, Rabada could run through Pakistan’s batting line-up in a blink of an eye, and hence it is crucial for Azam to hold an end up and score runs, offering stability.

Temba Bavuma Vs Naseem Shah

Temba Bavuma has been scoring runs for absolute fun in his last few Tests, notching up (70 and 113) in the first Test and (78 and 66) in the second, both against Sri Lanka.

Batting at No.4, he’s been a vital cog in the middle-order puzzle and Naseem Shah, who is known to be a wicket-taker will need to bring his A-game, stopping Bavuma to go on a run spree to give the visitors a chance in the contest. 

Mohammad Rizwan Vs Marco Jansen

Mohammad Rizwan, with his ability to absorb pressure and take his side to safe shores will come really good if Pakistan are under a bit of pressure early on in the game.

Jansen, known for his ability to swing the ball into the right-hander and also extract bounce off the surface will be licking his lips on a greenish Centurion 22-yards, and it could be a fascinating contest between bat and ball.