LAHORE, Aug 17: The current spell of humid weather will prove a hurdle for the touring South Africa Academy as they bid to square the two-match series against Pakistan Academy in the four-day clash that starts on Thursday at the Qadhafi Stadium.

Pakistan Academy won the opening four-day encounter at Karachi by nine wickets on the third evening thanks to speedster Yasir Ali’s 10-wicket haul.

Sabih Azhar, the home team coach, admitted on Wednesday that the Lahore weather was not pleasant compared to Karachi and that would contribute towards the tourists struggling. “I believe the weather will play a major role in deciding the match and the visitors will find it hard to concentrate on their game.”

The coach said that he might opt for two spinners to give rest to some of the fast bowlers while confirming that off-spinning all-rounder Tariq Mahmood would play here.

“The South Africans have four left-handed batsmen so we’ll be better off with a leg-spinner (Mansoor Amjad) and an off-spinner playing in this game,” he observed.

Teams (from):

PAKISTAN ACADEMY: Hasan Raza (captain), Zulqarnain Haider, Shahid Yousuf, Khurram Manzoor, Aamir Sajjad, Nasir Jamshed, Khalid Latif, Agha Sabir, Yasir Ali, Najaf Shah, Mansoor Amjad, Tariq Mahmood, Fahad Masood, Mohammad Irshad, Jan Nisar Khan, Tahir Khan.