Pink Day has provided many enthralling moments at the Bullring

For sheer sensory extravagance there is little in the world of cricket that matches a Pink Day ODI at a packed Wanderers.

It will thus be particularly poignant today when SA and Pakistan line up for the 10th edition with no one from the paying ranks there to bear witness to the potential spectacle.

Covid-19 has brought even the normally boisterous Bullring to silence.

Pink Day though has thrilled and enthralled since its advent in 2013.

Most memorable perhaps is AB de Villiers’ breathtaking 149 off 44 balls in SA’s record score of 439 against the West Indies in 2015.

Shahid Afridi’s towering six off Ryan McLaren that cleared the Centenary Stand in a vain Pakistan chase in 2013 was a highlight in more ways than one.

There was the nerve-jangling sight of Chris Morris just about dragging the Proteas over the line when they needed 53 with just two wickets in hand against England in 2016.

SA showed some rearguard action and won by one wicket on that occasion but they thankfully avoided a sting in the tale in 2017 when a 5,000-strong swarm of bees brought the players to their knees.

While it took a beekeeper, who watched the flutter from afar, to get off his couch and save the day, the Proteas’ former wicketkeeper, now their coach, Mark Boucher, would have felt thoroughly helpless to change the course of events that led to his team’s defeat in Centurion on Friday night.

The Proteas lost by three wickets in the opening ODI and they now have their backs to the wall to avoid a series defeat.

The hosts, however, have a very good record in the Pink Day clashes but it is worth noting that it was Pakistan who arrested their seven-match unbeaten run in 2019.

Admittedly, beseeched by a packed house, SA have also counter-punched tellingly in this fixture.

Three-nil down in the series, they engineered a win against India in 2018.

The occasion today is vastly different. Both teams will go into the contest in search of form and general refinement. Though Friday’s clash was SA’s first ODI in more than a year, it was only Pakistan’s sixth since the 2019 Cricket World Cup.

That lack of 50-over exertion manifested itself in the capitulation of SA’s top order on Friday, but they are likely to encounter conditions better suited to their strokeplay today.

Though one can expect SA to shed more rustiness, Pakistan are likely to have even clearer focus from the first ODI.

“We’re feeling quite confident after this win and I want to keep my form going in the next game,” warned Pakistan captain Babar Azam.

“When you win, you have some good things and bad things you take from the game. I’m going to speak to the boys about the mistakes we made a bit more and discuss how we could have done things better.”

That does not bode well for new Proteas captain Temba Bavuma and his team who know excuses in the aftermath of a series defeat at an empty Wanderers stadium will ring hollow.

The Covid-19 pandemic has brought even the normally boisterous Wanderers cricket stadium to an eerie silence today