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Pakistan will hope to overturn their recent record when they face off against the team in form, South Africa in the 26th match of the 2023 World Cup. This will be played on Friday, October 27 in Chennai.
Our top Pakistan vs South Africa predictions
Contents
Given the obvious contrast in the results for the two teams, Pakistan are a distant second favourite at 33/20 (2.65) against a Proteas side which has been crushing opponents for fun. South Africa, not surprisingly, start off 8/15 (1.53) to win this.
First Prediction: Top Pakistan bowler – Shaheen Shah Afridi: 11/4 (3.75)
Shaheen Shah Afridi hadn’t made the best of starts to the tournament but has now scalped 10 wickets at 25.1 in the competition. He looks to be coming into his own and add the fact that the other bowlers have been struggling to get going we could be looking at Afridi finishing as the top Pakistan bowler.
Second Prediction: First innings 100 – No: 11/13 (1.84)
With Chennai typically being a spin-friendly pitch, run-scoring hasn’t been the easiest here. So while South Africa have been bulldozing big scores by the dozens, there could be a change in fortunes here as the two sides could get involved in a low-scoring encounter.
Spirits are high in the Pakistan camp 😄💚 #CWC23 pic.twitter.com/LKAveDvOvC
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) October 25, 2023
PAK vs SA – Contrasting fortunes for the two sides
Pakistan had entered the tournament as one of the key favourites to make the semifinals while South Africa were rank outsiders. The tables have turned with Pakistan needing to notch up wins to stay in the tournament and South Africa requiring just two more victories to seal their semifinal berth.
Pakistan
If the defeats to India and Australia had Pakistan hurting, their fans were heart-broken after they fell to Afghanistan in their previous match. It was a shocking result in not just the fact that they lost but also the manner of defeat – Afghanistan chasing down 282 for the loss of just two wickets.
South Africa
South Africa have continued to plunder. Other than a freak loss to Netherlands they have bludgeoned teams with their batting masterclasses having smashed the England bowling for 399 and the Bangladesh side for 382. Against a struggling Pakistan attack, things could get interesting again.
Pakistan vs South Africa h2h score
This is bit of a one-sided rivalry with South Africa leading 51-30 on head to head in ODI cricket. Over the last 10 matches, however, it’s 5-5.
During World Cups, they had first faced off in 1992 and South Africa hold a slight 3-2 edge.
Pitch report and weather conditions
There is a 30% chance of rain in Chennai on match-day which means the humidity could soar too. This could make for sapping conditions when it’s not raining with a high of 31 degrees centigrade expected.
There have been no 300-plus scores at this stadium in this tournament which speaks volumes about the slow nature of the tracks here.
Key match details for PAK vs SA
- Date & Time: 8.30 am GMT, Friday, October 27
- Venue: M Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai
- Where to watch: In the UK, you can watch this match with Sky Sports while Indian fans can tune in to Star Sports or Disney+ Hotstar to watch it live. PTV Sports and ptvflix are the places to be to watch this in Pakistan while SuperSport Grandstand and the SuperSport app can be used to do that in South Africa.
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