National Stadium Karachi pitch report and weather conditions
South Africa's historic Pakistan tour will kick off with a Test match between the two teams in Karachi. The National Stadium will play host to the Proteas' first Test in Pakistan since 2007.
Quinton de Kock will captain the South African side in this 2-match ICC World Test Championship series. The visiting team will be high on confidence heading into this series as it recently whitewashed Sri Lanka 2-0 at home. Meanwhile, Pakistan suffered a 0-2 defeat in its previous Test series versus New Zealand.
However, Babar Azam's men start as the favorites to win the first Test in Karachi. Pakistan have not lost an ICC World Test Championship match at home so far. Besides, none of the current South African players have played a Test match on Pakistan's soil.
With Karachi set to host the first PAK v SA Test match, here's a look at the venue's pitch report and weather conditions.
National Stadium Karachi pitch report
The National Stadium has been a happy hunting ground for the home side. Pakistan have lost only two out of 42 Tests in Karachi. The last time Pakistan suffered a Test defeat at this venue was way back in October 2007, when the Proteas defeated them by 160 runs.
South Africa will look forward to replicating the same performance in 2021. But they will find it challenging to dismiss the Pakistani players on the batsmen-friendly track at the National Stadium.
In the previous Test at this stadium, Shan Masood, Abid Ali, Azhar Ali, and Babar Azam scored a hundred each in the second innings as Pakistan declared at 555/3 against Sri Lanka. The spinners will not get much assistance from the surface, but the fans can expect the fast bowlers to trouble the batsmen.
Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Abbas, and Naseem Shah scalped 16 wickets in the last Test in Karachi. Dale Steyn took seven wickets in his only Test at the National Stadium, which shows that the fast bowlers have always achieved success in Karachi.
National Stadium Karachi weather conditions
Bright sunshine is expected on all five days of the first PAK v SA Test match. There are no predictions for rainfall in Karachi as the temperature will loom around 26 degrees Celsius.