Champions Trophy: Will South Africa knock Pakistan out?

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Birmingham, June 7: Pakistan take on mighty South Africans in a must-win ICC Champions Trophy 2017 match at Edgbaston Cricket Ground on Wednesday (June 7). ['Painful' to watch Pakistan 'being thrashed' by India: Imran]

CT 17 Special Site; Schedule; Photos; Points table

The Pakistani side suffered a huge setback in their tournament opener against rivals India on Sunday (June 4). They lost by 124 runs. A loss today against the Proteas will end their chances of qualifying to the semi-finals. [SA Vs Pak: Preview]

The men in green did not look convincing in their match against India and helplessly surrendered. They failed in both bowling and batting department.

Captain Sarfraz Ahmed is leading a side full of inexperienced youngsters. This new generation of cricketers have just not justified their positions.

Against India, winning the toss, Sarfraz had opted to bowl first. The Indians in a rain-affected match posted a mammoth total of 319 runs.

The entire top order slammed half-centuries. Rohit Sharma was the top scorer with 91 runs. He along with his opening partner Shikhar Dhawan (65) scored 136 runs for the first wicket.

Yuvraj Singh and captain Virat Kohli did the rest of the job taking the score past the 300 mark. Pakistan while chasing were bundled out for 164.

The current Pakistan side have senior players like Mohammed Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed and Wahab Riaz. Unfortunately, none of them could deliver on the big day.

After that loss, a demoralised Pakistan side are now up against an even stronger challenge of facing South Africa who practically crushed Sri Lanka in their opening game.

Pakistan will be without the services of experienced fast bowler Wahab Riaz today, who suffered an ankle in the last match and has been ruled out of the tournament.

They need to up their game by some big margin and the promising youngsters like Babar Azam, Azhar Ali, Mohammad Amir should start delivering when it matters.

If Pakistan's performance does not drastically improve, then they should be prepared for yet another embarrassment and bow out of the tournament with their heads down.

OneIndia News