SA aim to seal WTC final place in Test series against Pakistan

Temba Bavuma

South Africa will be eyeing a place in the World Test Championship final with an all-seam attack against Pakistan in the first Test, starting Thursday.

The Proteas need to win one of its remaining two Test matches in this WTC cycle to guarantee a place at the Lord's final next year and captain Temba Bavuma believes expectations have risen in his team to do well in the two Test series.

"There'll be pressure that comes with that," Bavuma said. "But to be honest with you, we're coming into the series to win the series 2-0. We understand that for us to do that, there's certain things that we need to do as a team: keep things simple, keep doing the small things right, and allow the results to take care of itself."

South Africa has included four fast bowlers in the lineup with Corbin Bosch, who consistently bowls above 140 kph, set to play his first Test at his hometown.

Seasoned fast bowlers Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen will team up with Dane Paterson and Bosch to challenge Pakistan's batters on an expected pacey Centurion pitch where fast bowlers have a clear advantage over the last six years, picking up 227 wickets with spinners dismissing only 16 batters.

Heading into the Tests, South Africa's top-order batters did struggle against Pakistan in a rare 3-0 ODI whitewash with Tony de Zorzi, Ryan Rickelton and Tristan Stubbs all failing to read the off-spin bowling of Salman Ali Agha in the opening game. "Whether it's easy, whether it's hard, we've got to find a way to do it," Bavuma said.

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