PRETORIA (Reuters) - South Africa are within touching distance of a place in next June’s World Test Championship final at Lord’s but must win at least one of their two tests against Pakistan, which start with the Boxing Day encounter in Pretoria.
A run of five successive test victories in the last five months -- over the West Indies, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka -- has catapulted South Africa to first in the WTC standings and given them a strong chance of a place against either Australia, India or Sri Lanka in the one-off final in London.
They get two chances to advance to the WTC final, hosting a second test at Newlands in Cape Town from Jan. 3-7, and with home advantage and a winning record against Pakistan will be expected to do so.
The young South African side have exceeded expectations and gained momentum since success in Guyana in August set them on a winning streak.
Meanwhile Pakistan have never won a test series in South Africa, and lost their last seven tests there.
The tourists also arrived without coach Jason Gillespie, who dramatically quit this month and has been replaced by former fast bowler Aqib Javed.
But a home series triumph over England in October will have boosted Pakistan, as will the 3-0 whitewash of South Africa in a One Day International series that concluded at the weekend.
Promising 22-year-old batter Saim Ayoub was outstanding in the ODIs, with two centuries, and Salman Ali Agha, Mohammad Rizwan and Naseem Shah also contributed. They have stayed on for the two-test series, where Shan Masood captains the team.
Pakistan do look light on bowlers, where South Africa have Kagiso Rababa and Marco Jansen leading a fiery attack on surfaces favouring the quicks.
They will also be trying to get all-rounder Wiaan Mulder back in after he broke a finger against Sri Lanka last month.
There is, however, doubt about the availability of key left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj, whose adductor strain forced him to sit out the ODI series. Both he and Mulder are in the test squad named last week but must still pass fitness tests.
(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
