WCL 2025: Top 3 player battles to watch out for in PAK vs SA

Pakistan Champions will take on South Africa Champions in the final of the World Championship of Legends 2025 on Saturday, August 2, at Edgbaston in Birmingham. Pakistan finished in top place in the points table with four wins in five games. They were supposed to face the India Champion in the semi-final; however, the match got called off and Pakistan got a direct entry to the final.

Meanwhile, South Africa took on Australia in the semi-final, and half-centuries from JJ Smuts and Morne van Wyk took the team to a total of 186 runs for the loss of eight wickets. Australia almost came close to the target but could not cross the line as South Africa won the match by one run.

Here are the top three player battles to watch out for in Pakistan Champions vs South Africa Champions, Final of WCL 2025:

1. AB de Villiers (South Africa Champions) vs Sohail Tanvir (Pakistan Champions):

AB de Villiers faced 75 deliveries from Sohail Tanvir in ODIs and scored 91 runs off them. Tanvir dismissed de Villiers only once, which was during a T20I game in 2013. de Villiers scored four runs off two deliveries before getting dismissed. In two PSL matches in 2019, de Villiers made 10 runs off 13 deliveries from Tanvir.

2. Kamran Akmal (Pakistan Champions) vs Wayne Parnell (South Africa Champions):

Kamran Akmal faced Wayne Parnell’s four deliveries in the first game and scored four off them. At the international level, Akmal faced Parnell only once – in a T20I game during the 2009 T20 World Cup. He made nine runs off three deliveries off Parnell.

3. Mohammad Hafeez (Pakistan Champions) vs Imran Tahir (South Africa Champions):

Mohammad Hafeez faced Imran Tahir in all formats apart from Test cricket. Tahir dismissed Hafeez twice – once in an ODI game in 2013 and the second time in the PSL 2020. In ODIs, Hafeez made 48 runs off 50 deliveries against Tahir while in T20Is, Hafeez has faced two deliveries from Tahir and managed just two runs. The major battle between Hafeez and Tahir took place in the PSL where Hafeez has scored 55 runs off 57 deliveries from Tahir for one dismissal.