Pakistan Eye Twenty20 Top Spot Against South Africa

Dubai: Pakistan will look to win the two-match Twenty20 series against South Africa starting on Wednesday to go to the top of the rankings in the shortest format of the game.

Besides improvement in the rankings, both the teams will also seek to get tuned up for the fifth edition of the World Twenty20 to be held in Bangladesh in March and April next year.

Pakistan captain Mohammad Hafeez said his team, ranked second behind Sri Lanka, are eager to win both games.

Both matches will be played in Dubai, with the second clash taking place on Friday.

Pakistan will also look to put behind them the 4-1 thrashing in the five-match one-day series which finished on Monday, and Hafeez said it will be important to forget that loss.

Pakistan are bolstered by the return of all-rounders Abdul Razzaq and Shoaib Malik, while South Africa welcome Twenty20 specialists in Henry Davids, Aaron Phangiso and David Wiese as well as pace spearhead Dale Steyn, who has not played a T20 since December last year.

South African captain Faf du Plessis said his team will start the series with confidence.

"I think it's nice to go into the series with a momentum and the confidence is there although it's a different format and slightly different team but we look forward to it," said Du Plessis, who also sought to underline the importance of gearing up for the World Twenty20.

"We must find the right balance with the World Twenty20 in the sub-continent, which will have similar conditions to here," said Du Plessis.

Teams from:

Pakistan: Mohammad Hafeez (capt), Nasir Jamshed, Ahmed Shehzad, Umar Akmal (wk), Umar Amin, Shahid Afridi, Sohaib Maqsood, Abdul Razzaq, Sohail Tanvir, Mohammad Irfan, Junaid Khan, Saeed Ajmal, Shoaib Malik, Abdur Rehman.

South Africa: Faf du Plessis (capt), Hashim Amla, Henry Davids, Quinton de Kock, AB de Villiers (wk), JP Duminy, Imran Tahir, Ryan McLaren, David Miller, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Aaron Phangiso, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, David Wiese

Match facts
Wednesday November 13, 2013 (day/night)
Start time 2000 local (1600 GMT)

Scores	Upcoming	Results
Pakistan vs New Zealand - 1st T20I Punjab Kings vs Mumbai Indians - 33rd Match Lucknow Super Giants vs Chennai Super Kings - 34th Match 35th Match - Delhi Capitals v Sunrisers Hyderabad - April 20, 14:00 GMT 2nd T20I - Pakistan v New Zealand - April 20, 14:30 GMT 32nd Match - Gujarat Titans v Delhi Capitals at Ahmedabad Delhi Capitals won by 6 wickets (with 67 balls remaining) 31st Match - Kolkata Knight Riders v Rajasthan Royals at Kolkata Rajasthan Royals won by 2 wickets (with 0 balls remaining)

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