Pakistan vs South Africa Live Streaming: How To Watch PAK vs SA World Cup 2023 Match On TV And Online?

Pakistan will face South Africa in the 26th match of the ICC ODI World Cup 2023 on Friday. The PAK vs SA match will be played at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai from 2 PM IST onwards.

His captaincy on line after a hat-trick of defeats, Babar Azam will be keen to find some inspiration and that exclusive piece of Pakistani magic when his team squares off against a formidable South Africa in the do-or-die game.

One more defeat and knock-out doors will be shut on Pakistan and Babar, who is already feeling the heat, might end up losing captaincy as it will be virtually impossible for his team to salvage the campaign in remaining three games even if it wins those.

"Looking ahead, the board will make decisions in the best interest of Pakistan cricket based on the team's performances in the World Cup. At present, the PCB encourages fans, former players and stakeholders to rally behind the team as they strive to make a triumphant comeback in the mega-event," PCB's statement ahead of an important match will only increase tremendous pressure on skipper and the team.

From hereon, Pakistan needs to win all its matches and expect Australia to falter in at least two of their remaining four games.

Babar Azam was last to arrive in the nets in Chennai on Thursday as Pakistan finalised their preparations for the must-win clash. It was right after the statement that Pakistan's training session began, during which Babar largely kept to himself.

After a 30-minute fielding session, he was the last to arrive in the nets to bat, news agency PTI reported. He appeared to be taking a reserved approach, sitting down for a chat with the support staff before heading into the nets and facing seamers and throwdown specialists. Opening batter Imam-ul-Haq was also seen having a chat with Babar.

Pakistan vice-captain Shadab Khan is hoping that the Pakistan team will return to winning ways. Shadab admitted do-or-die matches are generally pressure situations but said it could be different for some teams.

"It depends on individual and team. I think that reduces the pressure because you have no option, nothing to lose. If you lose, you're obviously out of the tournament. So, the more positive things you bring to the match, the more you benefit," he said at the pre-match press conference.

"I think our team has come out of such situations and also performed well in such situations, and hopefully, from tomorrow, our winning streak will start," he said.

Notably, Mohammad Nawaz could replace Usama Mir in the playing XI for Friday's game, a PTI report said.

South Africa will be tempted to field first against Pakistan in their World Cup clash on Friday, conceded captain Temba Bavuma after the Proteas piled up two of the highest totals in the competition while batting first in their recent outings.

South Africa scored 399/7 against England and 382/5 against Bangladesh to record big wins by more than 100 runs in their two-game stint in Mumbai, making the most of the batting-friendly surface.

With their only loss in five games coming while batting second, South Africa would be tempted to chase if they win toss in Chennai knowing how conducive batting conditions were here during Afghanistan's eight-wicket win over Pakistan.

"I watched the Afghanistan game with Pakistan and it seemed to get a lot better batting under light. So, I guess there's that temptation from a batting point of view at least," Bavuma told the media on Thursday.

"There's obviously us needing to consider the fact that we've had a lot of success of late batting first. So fortunately for me, I don't have to make that decision right now. But, I think we know somewhere along the line in the tournament we'll have to bat second," he added.

Bavuma also confirmed that there will be changes to the playing XI with spinner Tabraiz Shamsi set to come in.

The PAK vs SA World Cup 2023 match will be telecast live on the Star Sports Network in India.

Disney+ Hotstar will livestream the PAK vs SA match on its app and website.

SuperSport and its app will broadcast the match in South Africa and to the 52 Sub-Saharan Africa territories.

Cricket fans in Pakistan can watch the PAK vs SA match on the following platforms:

• On television: PTV Sports, PTV National, PTV Home and A-Sports.

• On digital: ptvflix, Daraz, TAPMAD, MYCO, SHOQ TV, ARY ZAP, Jazz and Tamasha.

Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (w), Saud Shakeel, Shadab Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Haris Rauf.

Quinton de Kock(w), Temba Bavuma (c), Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Gerald Coetzee, Keshav Maharaj, Tabraiz Shamsi, Lungi Ngidi.

(With PTI inputs)