Temba Bavuma, the captain of South Africa, announced Tuesday that the team would launch an all-pace attack at SuperSport Park in Centurion for the first Test match against Pakistan.
“We back our seamers at Centurion,” South African captain Temba Bavuma said at his pre-match press conference on Tuesday, announcing an all-pace attack for the first Test against Pakistan, which begins at SuperSport Park in Centurion on Thursday. The two-match series is crucial for South Africa, as a victory would earn them a spot in the World Test Championship final next year. Fast bowler Corbin Bosch will make his debut for a team that is missing several top pace bowlers due to injury.The late Tertius Bosch, who played in South Africa’s first post-isolation Test match against the West Indies in Barbados in 1992, is the father of 28-year-old Bosch.
“He will be playing at the venue where he has made a name for himself in the provincial set-up,” Bavuma stated. “He adds that extra bit of tempo. He is a large, powerful man who not only pounds the deck hard but also contributes with the bat.
On Sunday, Bosch made his one-day international debut against Pakistan in Johannesburg, bowling at over 140 km/h (87 mph) while hitting 40 not out as a lower-order batsman.According to Bavuma, his players understood the importance of coming close to making it to the world championship final.
“We are aware of the stakes. Because of the excellent cricket we have played recently, there is faith and confidence. Nothing has occurred by chance.
Despite Cricket South Africa purposefully downgrading Test cricket to make room for a well-known Twenty20 franchise series, South Africa has advanced to the Test championship final.With 12 Test matches in two-match series, South Africa’s schedule is tied with Bangladesh’s for the championship cycle. When their schedules are over, Australia and India will have each played 19 games, compared to 22 for England.
Despite essentially losing a series in New Zealand when coach Shukri Conrad was not allowed to choose any players who were contracted to the SA20 league, South Africa has risen to the top of the table thanks to the average points system.South Africa’s sole series against one of the “big three” Test countries was a tie against India; they did not play either Australia or England.
Pakistan will enter the series fresh off a resounding 3-0 one-day series victory, despite having only won two of their fifteen Test matches in South Africa. The one-day matches featured eight members of the South African Test team and seven members of the Pakistani squad.
South Africa’s Playing XI: Temba Bavuma (captain), Aiden Markram, Tony de Zorzi, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs, David Bedingham, Kyle Verreynne (wkt), Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Kagiso Rabada, Dane Paterson.
Pakistan’s Squad: Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel, Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam, Haseebullah Khan, Kamran Ghulam, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Rizwan (wkt), Naseem Shah, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha.