One of the most loved fixtures on the cricketing calendar is the Boxing Day Test and it is already here as South Africa and Pakistan face up to each other in a game major importance - specifically for the home side, who will want to use it to secure their place in the final of the World Test Championship.
SuperSport Park is a venue where you bat first if you win the toss. In recent times 72% of the games played here have been won by the side that bats first.
South Africa vs Pakistan | First Test | Thursday 26 December 2024 | SuperSport Park, Centurion | 10:00
South Africa
The Proteas Test team are on a good run and playing with confidence. They head into the Boxing Day clash on the back of consecutive 2-0 series wins, and they are starting to come together nicely.
The World’s number two Test bowler is Kagiso Rabada, and he has a great record at SuperSport Park. His 13 wickets for 144 runs are the best figures at the ground and he would relish the chance to repeat that performance again. His record return came in 2016 against England, but he has matured and grown since then. Test cricket is Rabada’s best format, and he will want to show what he is about after returning combined figures five for 104 in the ODI series.
There is a big question mark over the fitness of Keshav Maharaj, and he will be given every chance to prove his fitness, but if he plays, South Africa will head into the encounter with a very strong looking attack. Aside from Rabada they have an in-form Marco Jansen who is ranked 12th by the ICC, while Maharaj is ranked 18th. The Proteas have shown that they have an attack that can take 20 wickets in a Test – but Pakistan should be a step up in class on Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
Temba Bavuma is a man in form – the Proteas skipper is the unsung hero of their batting line-up, but he heads into the series ranked seventh in the world on the back of his stellar performances against Sri Lanka.
While South Africa managed to find runs against Sri Lanka it wasn’t always easy. Ryan Rickelton, Kyle Verreynne and Tristan Stubbs all managed centuries at some point of the Sri Lanka series, but Bavuma aside, it’s not the sort of batting line-up that boasts a couple of bankers.
While it feels unfair to say that Aiden Markram is battling for form – he always seems to make a start – he has now gone 11 knocks without a century and his Test average is starting to drop into the very ordinary range around 35. As a top order batsman, he needs to average more, and he needs to set out his stall to dominate attacks for long periods.
Pakistan
Pakistan have been on the road for a while now, prior to the Test series they played ODI and T20 series in South Africa and before that they were in Zimbabwe. They may have been away from home for a long time, but they are playing well as the 3-0 ODI series win over South Africa demonstrates.
Pakistan have opted to leave Shaheen Afridi out of the team as he focusses on the white-ball game. It leaves their attack looking a little light with 38-year-old Noman Ali their top ranked bowler at 10 on the ICC Test list. Ali, a slow left arm orthodox spinner, may be a veteran in terms of his age but he has played just 17 Tests since making his debut in 2021. He comes into the game with an average of 27.65.
Where South Africa’s undoubted strength is their bowling, for Pakistan it is their batting. Saud Shakeel is ranked ninth in the world, Babar Azam’s at 17, Salman Agha at 19 and
Mohammad Rizwan at 20. It’s a very solid unit and that is before you add Saim Ayub into the mix.
Saim Ayub has played just six Tests in his career, so he is still very much finding his way. But he has enjoyed a stellar tour of South Africa where he has scored two ODI centuries and an undefeated 98 in the T20I. To say that he is enjoying himself at the top of the Pakistan batting order would be an understatement. he will be looking to carry his white-ball form over into the Test arena.
One player who will not want to carry his white ball form into the Test arena however is Abdullah Shafique. He had a nightmare ODI recording three consecutive ducks. The South Africa attack will be queuing up to bowl at him if he makes the side for Centurion.
Verdict: South Africa
This has all the hallmarks of a gripping Test with a great battle shaping up between a formidable batting unit against an excellent bowling unit. South Africa have more to play for in terms of a place in the WTC final (Pakistan are no longer in the running) and they have home ground advantage.
