Fantasy Preview of Semi-final-I: Pak v SA

Aah, so the business end of the tournament! Two semi-finals and a final to go to be able to decide who the winner of the ICC World T20-II is, and these three games will also decide which of the Sports Pundit Fantasy experts will win that elusive prize to get to watch a cricket match at an international venue!

The first semi-final at Trent Bride will be between Pakistan and South Africa and it does remain to be seen what kind of pitch does the game gets played on. Because if it was to be anywhere close to the one that India and South Africa played their game on, there is a reasonable chance that both teams will need to strategise their batting a trifle better than usual.

In that case, my sense is that it will be a better move to stack the team with more, quality bowlers than usual and batsmen who could would come a lower cost. J.P.Duminy from South Africa could be one such option given that he could bowl a few overs for his team, and in turn get a wicket or two.

While Jacques Kallis should make a comeback, a spinning track may not be to his liking and one may want to think twice before picking him. Instead, Shahid Afridi could just be a better fit for the role of an all-rounder as he has shown to have a penchant for picking wickets at regular intervals.

Amongst the spinners, for those who want to go all-out for an all or nothing approach, may wish to go in for both Saeed Ajmal and Johan Botha, both of whom are not only difficult to pick up and score, but also very good wicket-taking options.
The Pakistani batting looks a little more stable at the top of the inning, with the inclusion of Shezaib Hasan, and the batting of Kamran Akmal as an opener. I will continue having Akmal in the team and take the decision to sub him only if Pakistan get knocked out of the semi-finals and replace him with Kumar Sangakkara for the second semi-finals. However, if Pakistan manage to get to the finals, I will continue having him as my ‘keeper.