Pakistan v South Africa preview and best bets
Cricket betting tips: Pakistan v South Africa
1pt Aiden Markram top match batsman at 10/1 (Paddy Power, Betfair Sportsbook)
1pt Tabraiz Shamsi top South Africa bowler at 18/5 (Betfred)
Friday’s offering from the Cricket World Cup sees a clash between two sides currently experiencing contrasting fortunes in India, South Africa winning four of their five matches thus far in brilliant fashion, Pakistan struggling having lost their last two.
Pakistan were nothing short of a shambles when slumping to an eight-wicket defeat to Afghanistan earlier in the week, poor captaincy, ill-disciplined bowling and sloppy fielding giving them little chance of defending 282 in Chennai.
Though his batting remains top class, Babar Azam is expected to lose the Pakistan captaincy at the end of the campaign and his relationship with his bowling attack appears broken. Haris Rauf – Pakistan’s fastest bowler – is a big problem, currently conceding 6.97 runs per over, while the spin threat has been non-existent.
On the face of it, Pakistan’s attack looks vulnerable coming up against a South Africa batting line-up that has posted scores of 428-5, 311-7, 399-7 and 382-5. That said, the same line-up were bowled out for 207 by the Netherlands.
South Africa’s power-packed middle order of Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller looks just about the strongest in the competition, and with opener Quinton de Kock having struck three centuries in the tournament already, it’s hard to find too many chinks in the batting.
Pakistan will be hoping a change in venue for their opponents, with South Africa moving away from the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, will go some way to curbing the Proteas’ power. Don't bank on it.
Historically, Chennai has been a much tougher place to bat, with spin playing a big part in the IPL, but despite 300 not been breached in four matches played here, batting has been far from impossible. And once the heavy dew has taken affect, chasing has become relatively straightforward.
Pakistan don’t have enough quality in their spin bowling to exploit such conditions, anyway, so another South Africa win appears most likely, even if without the same fireworks of late.
Having plumped for AIDEN MARKRAM for top batsman honours against Bangladesh on Tuesday, his measured half-century was upstaged by de Kock’s brilliant hundred and Klaasen’s latest late show.
However, that’s now scores of 106, 56, 1, 42 and 60 for Markram at this World Cup, hot on the heels of his brilliant Man of the Series performance against Australia. The wildly talented 29-year-old is clearly in the form of his life right now.
Whatever conditions Chennai does serve up, it’s fair to say Markram has the all-round game to succeed – we must not forget that he plays his IPL cricket on turning tracks in Hyderabad – and I’m rowing in again at 10/1.
Elsewhere, I’m keen to throw a few quid at TABRAIZ SHAMSI (18/5) whose left-arm wrist spin might well earn a recall on this ground.
South Africa have preferred to rely on their strong pace attack so far in the tournament, with Keshav Marahaj selected as the sole spinner, but Shamsi picked up 2-38 when getting the nod to play against Australia in Lucknow.
Though he can be expensive, Shamsi is a genuine wicket-taker in white-ball cricket, actually boasting a superior strike-rate to Marahaj.
If we get a dry pitch, and South Africa opt for two spinners, Shamsi could quickly become a key man against this same Pakistan team that had no answers to Afghanistan’s wrist spinners only a few days ago.
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