South Africa national cricket team vs Pakistan national cricket team 1st ODI Preview

Match Details & Context

Tuesday, 4 November 2025, start at 14:00 on the venue.

Venue: Iqbal stadium, Faisalabad.

1st match in a three match ODI series between Pakistan and South Africa.

Pakistan and South Africa have an historic rivalry in ODIs; they have had 87 matches in the past with South Africa winning 52 of them and Pakistan winning 34.

To Pakistan, it marks a new beginning as Shaheen Shah Afridi replaces the captaincy of the ODI.

Teams & Predicted XIs

Pakistan:

key players: Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Fakhar Zaman, Saim Ayub, Hassan Nawaz.

Bowling attack: Shaheen Afridi (C), Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, and others.

South Africa:

Captain: Matthew Breetzke (when some of the senior players are not present)

Some of the well-known names include Quinton de Kock (wk), Tony de Zorzi, George Linde, Lungi Ngidi and Nandre Burger to name a few.

Venue & Pitch Report

The Iqbal Stadium is back in the limelight after a very long lapse of time (17 years) since it hosted a major ODI.

The pitch will be batters-friendly, at least initially, but could be of assistance to fast bowlers at the beginning and spinners later.

Traditionally, the team batters on the first hand have been slightly more successful in the past ODIs held here (9 out of 16).

Watch Guide: Notable Games and Plots.

• The new leadership age in Pakistan: As the new leadership in the position of the ODI captain, Shaheen Afridi is in the team, his ability to assemble the bowling and motivate the batting will determine the performance of Pakistan.

• The youthful side of South Africa: SA is lacking several frontline players and this opportunity has been taken by the younger talents. Their capability to come to the occasion will be challenged.

• The depth of batting vs. the firepower of the bowling: Pakistan are better in terms of batting main-core and the conditions they have at home, South Africa will want to attack with pace and swing at the beginning.

• Toss and strategy: Since the pitch is usually biased towards batting, the winning team can choose to bat first and put a high score.

• Momentum & form: Pakistan have a reputation of winning the recent series in T20I series against South Africa; it is important to carry the momentum. South Africa will be keen to start afresh and strike on the right footing in the ODI format.

Prediction & Outlook

Probably overall: With a first-batting score, the target is in the range of 270-310 runs, which it seems to be considering the conditions of the venue.

Confirmation: Pakistan slight advantage due to home conditions, change of leadership and depth of batting. A lot of previews give the advantage of Pakistan at the beginning.

Dark horse: South Africa has young guns who might surprise everybody should they take advantage of early mover and do well on the field.

Broadcast & Streaming Info

In India: Live streaming at the Sports TV YouTube channel.

Pakistan and other parts: Local TV and streaming to cover (confirm local listings). Conclusion

This is the initial ODI between Pakistan and South Africa at Faisalabad which begins with the series of three matches. As Pakistan attempts to dominate at home and South Africa seek to reestablish their footing in the 50-over game, the scene is set up in the two countries to engage in a fascinating battle. Pakistan will be hard to beat in case they can utilize the pitch and declare a strong total which is also batting friendly. Nevertheless, there is a pace attack and younger brigade in South Africa which in itself poses a threat.