South Africa blanked Pakistan 3-0 in Tests and jumped to the second spot in the ICC Rankings, and now, they have an opportunity to shoot up to the third rank if they, again, topple Pakistan in ODIs. However, Pakistan are a different team when they don coloured clothing.
Before the 2017 Champions Trophy, a tournament comprising eight teams, Pakistan had ranked seventh. Let alone favourites, they weren’t even considered dark horses. They lost the first match of the tournament to India by an embarrassing margin of 124 runs. That was that though, their last defeat. They stormed through the finals, avenged the loss against India, and lifted the trophy.
To make matters more interesting, the last time Pakistan and South Africa met in ODIs was during the same tournament, where Sarfraz Ahmed’s men handed Proteas a 7-wicket defeat, thanks to Hasan Ali’s 3 for 24.
A triumph in ODIs will relieve Pakistan and may as well help them move on from the Test defeat.
Headlines
South Africa have rested Quinton de Kock and Dale Steyn for the first two matches, calling up Aiden Markram and Duanne Olivier as their replacements.
Let’s dish out the best XI for our fantasy cricket team.
My XI: Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Shoaib Malik, Fakhar Zaman, Aiden Markram, Faf du Plessis, David Miller, Andile Phehlukwayo, Shadab Khan, Hasan Ali, Imran Tahir, Kagiso Rabada
Wicketkeeper
Sarfraz’s six innings in the Test series included three ducks and two fifties. Before that, he hadn’t crossed 30 against New Zealand in Tests, at UAE. It is thus safe to say that the Pakistan captain is under immense pressure to not only win matches but also score runs.
Klaasen, on the other hand, has scores of 63, 40, 73, and 11 in his last two First-Class games. In all, he has played 12 ODIs, with a best score of 59.
While Sarfraz likes to stick to the basics, Klaasen pursues aggressive strokeplay.
Batters
We’ll opt for two batters from Pakistan and three from South Africa.
Fakhar Zaman could not put his best foot forward against the red ball. With 61 runs in two Tests, Fakhar failed to give his team a good start. However, that won’t be the case anymore. The white ball, barring the initial overs, does not create lateral movement. Fakhar will be eager to go full throttle to dent South African bowlers’ confidence. His last three ODI scores read 1, 88, 65.
Shoaib Malik has entered his 20th year in international cricket. A veteran of over 400 international matches, Malik is not yet bored of rescuing his team out of trouble. Not only does he help his team pile up runs in the middle order but also has a knack of taking crucial wickets. He has 156 wickets to his name in the format.
Our three batters from the South African side will be Markram, du Plessis, and Miller.
Markram’s top scores in the Test series read 78 and 90, and more importantly, both innings were scored at a strike rate of over 70 on green tracks. Imagine the destruction Markram can cause in white-ball cricket. Not to forget that he captained his team against India, a year ago, in the absence of du Plessis.
Before he was handed suspension for slow over-rate, du Plessis scored a match-winning 103. And before that, he had bludgeoned three fifties in four matches of Mzansi Super League.
South Africa’s batting attack is incomplete without Miller, their middle-order mainstay. In the loss against Pakistan in Champions Trophy, it was Miller’s unbeaten 75 that kept South Africa in the hunt, in an otherwise toothless effort by the batting unit.
All-rounders
A seaming all-rounder will add more value at Port Elizabeth, where the ball creates lateral movement. In 34 ODIs Phehlukwayo has taken 43 wickets, including two four-wicket hauls. With the bat, he can be devastating down the order.
Bowlers
Wrist-spinners are a blessing in disguise. The recent example is the final ODI between India and Australia at the MCG. Yuzvendra Chahal took 6 for 42 and changed the complexion of the game.
We’ll opt two wrist-spinners from this contest: Tahir from South Africa and Shadab Khan from Pakistan.
Shadab Khan was Pakistan’s highest wicket-taker in ODIs in 2018. However, his skills are not limited to bowling. He averages 29.8 with the bat. He may as well end the series as Pakistan’s MVP. Tahir, on the other hand, can run through a batting line-up on his day.
Two obvious pacers in our fantasy side are Rabada and Hasan Ali. Both run in hard and deal in wickets, one after another.
Pitch report
Win the toss and bat first, as the average score in the first and second innings read 233 and 198 respectively.
Squads:
South Africa: Faf du Plessis(c), Hashim Amla, Reeza Hendricks, Imran Tahir, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Dane Paterson, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, Duanne Olivier
Pakistan: Sarfaraz Ahmed(c), Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Hasan Ali, Hussain Talat, Imad Wasim,Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Rizwan, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Afridi, Shan Masood, Shoaib Malik, Usman Khan
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