Pakistan will face South Africa in the second ODI to eye a back-to-back series win. Pakistan won the last-ball thriller in Centurion to take a 1-0 lead in the 3-match ODI series.
Match Timings: April 04, 1:30 PM IST
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Pakistan and South Africa will lock horns again in the second ODI of the series on Sunday. The hosts would look to bounce back in the series and would also keen to take the first point in CWC Super League. Under the new skipper, Proteas fought hard to defend 273 but lost the game on the final ball. Dussen scored a fine century but South Africa couldn’t get an imposing total in the first innings. Top-order failed to deliver but the Miller-Dussen partnership rescued South Africa to get 273 on board. At one stage, Pakistan had good control on the game but the second spell of Nortje bring the game into the favour of the hosts. Match went into the final over and South Africa tried to surprise Pakistan but Faheem Ashraf scored a four off the final ball to seal the game.
Hosts can look for the positives from this defeat but they still require some improvements. They defeated Australia 3-0 in the last ODI series at home and now they’re on the verge of losing an ODI series against Pakistan. The Bowling unit failed to break the partnership between Babar and Imam and this stand set the tone for Pakistan. Bavuma has to understand that his key players will not be available for the final match due to Indian T20 League and Proteas have to take this series into the decider.
Meanwhile, Pakistan are highly boosted after the win in the opening ODI. They had some weak points and visitors cannot repeat the mistakes. When Babar and Imam were playing, they were on the driver’s seat and an inexperienced middle-order exposed against Nortje who bagged 4 wickets in four successive overs. Shadab and Faheem held the nerves in the end. Middle-order has to step up because if somehow opposition gets the top-order early, Pakistan would be in deep trouble. Danis Aziz made his ODI debut in the last game but the skipper can look for better options in the middle-order like Haider Ali or Sarfaraz. Faheem and Shadab are the all-rounders but Pakistan are trying them as the 4th and 5th bowling option and it may hurt if South Africa offers the counter-attack on the spin. South Africa looks favourites despite losing the opening game.
Pitch Report
Johannesburg’s track is an ideal track for batting and it offers good assistance to pacers. We may expect 300 plus runs on board in the first innings. Chasing would be tricky against the good seam-attack.
Possible XI
Pakistan
Imam-ul-Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Danish Aziz, Sarfaraz/Asif Ali, Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Hasnain, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf/Hasan Ali
South Africa
Quinton de Kock (wk), Aiden Markram, Temba Bavuma (c), Rassie van der Dussen, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Andile Phehlukwayo, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi, Tabraiz Shamsi
Key Players
Pakistan
Babar Azam
Since 2019 WC – 267 runs at an average of 91.75
Previous game: 103 (104)
Mohammed Rizwan
Top-scorer in all formats for Pak past COVID-19
South Africa
Heinrich Klaasen
Last ODI series – 242 runs in 3 matches vs AUS
Lungi Ngidi
Last ODI series – 12 wickets in 3 matches vs AUS
