From a distance, South Africa taking on Pakistan at Birmingham seems to be a one-sided affair already, after the Asian side was beaten black and blue by their arch rivals India a couple of days ago.
But on getting a bit closer to the game, we could probably sense a game which South Africa cannot afford to take lightly. Pakistan currently has their back to the walls and play without the fear of losing. Post their thumping defeat to India, all hopes from this side are now at an all-time low, and with nothing to lose, Pakistan could well throw the kitchen sink.
South Africa commenced their campaign with a mauling of Sri Lanka, as Hashim Amla continued his run of excellence in this format, and game after game breaks a record or two as though he does it out of a habit. There is more to this Proteas side than just Amla surely and once the likes of Quinton De Kock and AB de Villiers come to the party, all sides are in for some serious trouble.
The last time these teams met in the ICC Champions Trophy, it was in 2013 when South Africa crushed Pakistan in a relatively low scoring game.
Recent form:
The side led by the ever phenomenal AB de Villiers comes on the back of a morale-boosting victory over Sri Lanka in their opening game. Despite getting off to a slow start, Amla took off once he was set and raced to a fine century, the 25th of his career. While defending 300, the Proteas seemed to be short of plans, as the Sri Lankan top order was simply running away with the game.
It needed the sheer enigma of Imran Tahir to get South Africa back, as his wickets didn’t just peg the run flow, but decimated Sri Lanka. The leg-spinner was eventually named the Man of the Match for his bowling performance.
Talking Points:
As of now, don’t expect South Africa to make any changes, unless there is a late injury concern or if the management plans to try a few players before the marquee clash against India. All aspects of the team were well covered in the previous game and there seems to be no reason to make any changes what so ever.
One department where South Africa would want an improvement would be with the new ball. The Sri Lankan openers tore apart the new ball bowlers and this would definitely be one major aspect where South Africa would want to excel in.
South Africa Predicted XI:
- Hashim Amla 2. Quinton de Kock (wk) 3. Faf du Plessis 4. AB de Villiers (c) 5. JP Duminy 6. David Miller 7. Chris Morris 8. Wayne Parnell 9. Kagiso Rabada 10. Morne Morkel 11. Imran Tahir