South Africa set Pakistan 189 to win first T20

South Africa won the toss on Saturday and decided to bat first against Pakistan in the first fixture of the four-match T20I series, as the Men In Green seek to keep their momentum from the ODI series going.

With top players already leaving the side for Indian Premier League (IPL), South Africa is also hit by injuries.

A day before the first T20I in Johannesburg, South Africa’s white-ball captain Temba Bavuma was ruled out of the series after suffering a Grade One hamstring strain. In his absence, Heinrich Klaasen will lead the Proteas.

Dwaine Pretorius and Rassie van der Dussen will also miss the series due to fitness issues while Reeza Hendricks withdrew from the series for family reasons.

Squads:

Pakistan: Babar Azam (captain), Arshad Iqbal, Asif Ali, Danish Aziz, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shaheen Shah Afridi, and Usman Qadir.

South Africa: Heinrich Klaasen (captain, wicketkeeper), Aiden Markram, Andile Phehlukwayo, Beuran Hendricks, Bjorn Fortuin, George Linde, Rassie van der Dussen, Janneman Malan, Sisanda Magala, Wiaan Mulder, Tabraiz Shamsi, Lutho Sipamla, Kyle Verreynne, Pite van Biljon, Daryn Dupavillon, Migael Pretorius, Lizaad Williams and Wihan Lubbe