Match Centre

Squad

Scorer: Sudeep Poojar | Commentator: Rvel Zahid

Disappointing day for those who waited patiently for some action, but it has rained heavily for the past three hours and the ground staff will need some time to get the field ready. The lightning hasn't stopped. A huge crowd turned up today and they're leaving now. We look forward to your company for the ODI series. For now, it's goodbye and goodnight from all of us here at ESPNcricinfo

Mohammad Rizwan and Heinrich Klaasen are shaking hands, and the match has been called off The ODI series gets underway on 17th December at Paarl; it's going to be a day-night game

Greig: "Hi. I know this does give my age away, but when discussing any Greatest South African test teams of "all time" we should not forget Graeme Pollock. In fact he could probably fit into a world team "

Raheel: "Usman khan should have never played for Pakistan. He was good with UAE. I don't know why he accepted the PCBs offer or why pcb offered him knowing that they still have good talent? "

Ahmad: "Is Usman Khan dropped from the team officially now? Or will he play in future leagues? He should play domestic for a while in different countries, get used to the pitches there, then come back in Pakistan team, and he will be really good. Right now, he can only perform in Pakistan. Nowhere else."

Hassan Ahmed: "What about Saeed Anwar, Aamir Sohail, Ijaz Ahmed, Inzamam, Mohammad Yousuf, Shahid Afridi, Moin Khan, Wasim, Waqar, Shoaib Akhtar, Saqlain"

MSK: "No mention of Hashim Amla ??"

Vijay : "what about this Suren. Hayden, Gilchrist, Martin, Ponting, M Waugh, Bevan, S Waugh, McGrath, Warne, Gillespie, Fleming "

Mustafa Moudi : "@Suren: Cant believe you ignored Smith and AB De Villiers. Smith, in fact, deserves to be the South African Captain across formats in any Era !!"

07:35pm: So after a short break, the rain has made a roaring comeback, pouring down with thunder and lightning in the background

Suren: "Kristen, Gibbs, Kallis, Cullinan, Cronje, Jonty, Boucher, Symcox, Pollock, Klusenser, Donald... This kind of playing XI could take on any team from any era. "

07:18pm: The rain has stopped and the super soppers are in full operation; it's time for the groundsmen to shine. The covers still remain in place. Next inspection at 07:45pm

saif: "have we lost any overs so far?" not yet

ICYMI: Khawaja, McSweeney steady for 13.2 overs before rain ruins day one of Gabba Test

Aneeb : "@Raheel... these both teams are going to go either way I don't see India winning this time in Australia until they define and decide about the RO-KO paradox I think if Kohli keeps chasing 10th stump delivery and Rohit is going to get late on deliveries coming in... India will be reeling behind Australia only banking on jaiswal, bumrah and pant to deliver "

6:50pm: The rain has gotten heavier now and the spectators are making sure to stay under the shed. The scene reminds me of the song Thunder by Imagine Dragons

Raheel: "Let's have some talk about wtc. I'd love to see proteas vs kangaroos in final at iconic lords. What about you guys? "

Jazz: "C'mon man, I just missed out on a whole day of the test at Brisbane because of the bad weather. I was counting on you, South Africa."

Ben: "What's the drainage like at The Wanderers?" Drainage is pretty good here so once the rain abates, I don't think it's going to take long to get things underway

Essar Banday: "I am enjoying the comment section to an extent that I will always be here even if I am in stadium watching the match live."

Omar: "Is it still raining? Weather forecast says it isn't going to rain today" A few minutes ago, there was a chat between the groundsman and the umpire but the covers remain in place for now and the wait continues. I know that's not what you want to hear, but unfortunately, the situation hasn't changed much but hopefully we will be able to get some play as it's not pelting down

RazaA: "Hassan it is not about whacking every ball rather it is about ability to accelerate when needed and hitting sixes on will. Unfortunately Babar and Rizwan cannot do both as such they are not considered to be specialist for T20."

6:08pm: I'm about to grab some snacks and will be back soon. Keep chatting among yourselves and let's keep the discussion going. As for the weather, frustratingly, it's still drizzling

Akram: "The problem with Pakistan is that they have many players in their T20i squad with 50+ games but still the team is in so called transitional phase, India, Eng and Aus always experiment with new faces in T20is and bring new and explosive batsmen into the foray while Pakistan are still stuck with same old mix & match of discarding and then reintroducing same players, they need to move on if they actually want to be a successful T20 team."

Hasan: "I never understood this new mentality of expecting batsman (Babar) to whack every ball. Do you also expect bowlers to take a wicket on every ball?"

Tayyab: "I believe there is no designated anchor required in a modern day T20 batting order, it should be the genuine stroke makers like we saw with Saim and Reeza who are expected to play the situation if an anchor role is required. Expecting anchor players to become aggressors considering the run rate is asking for a skill they do not possess. Hence players like Joe Root, Williamson, Steve Smith left T20 cricket soon as we saw a shift in batting philosophy of this format. "

Mahesh Iyer: "Ashar, the 2 stadia are not far from each other (recall it being about a 40 min drive). Almost certain the 2 sides are staying in JNB and just commuted a bit to Supersport park yesterday."

Saifi: "Babar bats at 140 when all others bash at 170 or even 200 and and scores runs at 120 when others seem happy with strike of 145. All the world, except for Pakistani selectors, knows he does not belong to this format. He can't and does not want to whack every ball for a boundary, his style of batting is more suited to ODIs. Saim Ayub has opened eyes of a lot of critics"

Pasupathi: "Bring back Shamsi in for Pieter"

5:53pm: No overs have been lost yet so we still have some time before we reach that stage. The pitch and adjoining areas are covered. A huge crowd has turned up for this game on Saturday and eagerly awaiting the action to get underway

Gavin: "I'm not far from the stadium and it's a steady soaking rain in jhb - but this kind of late afternoon storm is typical and lasts for less than an hour."

Aryan: "Shani, should be more like Babar should leave the spot for some youngster with better intent? If he scores a ton, Pak is 15-20 runs short of the required target on the pitch. "

Ashar Ali Khan: "2 matches in 2 days and that too at 2 different venues. Isn't that excessive? But then again that's what the game has turned into (cc: AM Ghazanfar)"

Shani: "Rizwan should leave the opening slot for Babar and Saim and play in middle order."

Hamid: "Teams are allowed to fully assess their strengths before deciding whether to bat or bowl first in case of a shortened game. I think that's the main reason for delaying the toss." Makes sense

AmirJangooFan : "What's the status? Is it a passing shower or are we in for a longer delay?" The lightning is an issue and now I see some umbrellas going up. It's gotten pretty dark now

Aziz: "Someone like Md. Haris should not be sitting outside."

hamza: "time can be saved by having toss under sheds and then start the game directly when lightening stops. sometimes it feels unnecessary delaying rules"

Aziz: "I just hope Pakistan stick with these top order positions. " 5:25pm: The toss has been delayed due to lightning around the Wanders Stadium

Uzair jamal: "Hope babar and saim make century"

Shayan Ahmad: "Is it looking like a bat or bowl first wicket? First innings average score?" The average first innings score is 172

Live pictures show a thick black cloud cover above the ground but it's not entirely gloomy just yet. Let's hope we dodge the rain and get a timely start. So far, preparations are in full swing, and the floodlights are shining bright like a diamond

How do you think this game is going to pan out?

5pm: Good evening, and welcome to ESPNcricinfo's ball-by-ball coverage of the third and final T20I of the series. Pakistan have announced their playing XI with one change: Salman Ali Agha comes in for Usman Khan. Rvel Zahid here to bring you all the action

Pakistan: Mohammad Rizwan (c & wk), Babar Azam, Saim Ayub, Tayyab Tahir, Salman Ali Agha, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Jahandad Khan, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed

South Africa will be mighty pleased after ending their series-losing drought and what's more satisfying is that they won the series with a well-balanced blend of youth and experience in their squad. They've risen to the occasion in key moments and prevailed against Pakistan in both previous matches, completely neutralizing their bowling attack in last night's high-scoring affair.

On the other hand, it will be a tough pill to swallow for Pakistan if they get whitewashed again after suffering a 3-0 hammering in Australia not long ago. They're still in search of a complete performance. While the batting did well last night on a conducive surface, the bowlers' plans backfired and there hasn't been much time to reflect or reassess their strategies for this final T20I of the series

Here's an excerpt from Firdose Moonda's match report on last night's thrilling game: 'Reeza Hendricks scored his first T20I century, in his tenth year of being an international cricketer, as South Africa won their first bilateral T20I series win since August 2022. They registered the third-highest successful chase at SuperSport Park to break a T20I trophy drought that has extended for eight series, since they beat Ireland more than two years ago.'