Pakistan has 99 problems, but dominating the 50-over format is not one of them. Despite many things going downward for the team currently, they can vouch for their favorite format to bring them some good luck. And they would be needing the good luck anyway. This ODI series is one of their last preparations for the Champions Trophy, a tournament they are not only hosting but also playing as the title defenders.
In contrast, South Africa are not in an as much of a comfortable position. Their most recent ODI game came against Ireland, where the Proteas lost the game, albeit dead-rubber, by 69 runs. As of now, there are injuries that will mar their preparation for the mega-event. Though the side has another Tri-series to play a couple of weeks before the eight-nation tournament commences (one of the sides for that series will be Pakistan again), some clashes with the nation’s domestic T20 League, SAT20 knockout round games might see many players missing out on that series. The best strategy for South Africa would be to divide their preparations into two parts; get the fit half to rehearse now and force the now-injured half out of the SAT20 final stages to play the Tri-series.
Team Overview:
Temba Bavuma will miss the first ODI to manage his workload and in his absence, the South African team will be in the hands of the stand-in captain, Aiden Markaram. This is another of many head-scratchers for the hosts. They currently sit at the top of the World Test Championship (WTC) table and need just a win, which they will eye to get in the upcoming Test series versus Pakistan, to be the first team to make it through to the WTC final. Hence, workload management would remain much talked about during this ODI series, at least for South Africa.
But workload management becomes a privilege when most of your regulars are dealing with their injuries. Players including Gerald Coetzee, David Miller, Anrich Nortje, Wiaan Mulder, Lungi Ngidi, and Nandre Burger are all injured and it would be a miracle for any of them (except Miller) to be back all nice and new for any game on this tour.
Pakistan do not have such problems to lose their sleep over. In fact, they have all of their first-choice player in the squad to be selected and tested for the Champions Trophy. Though they rested players like Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi, and Naseem Shah for the Zimbabwe tour, the trio was decent down under in the same format just a few weeks ago. Interestingly, South Africa would present conditions on the same template as Australia, where they won their first-ever ODI series after 22 years.
It will be tempting for Pakistan to use their all-pace strategy here as well but that will make them lose sight of the Champions Trophy, which will not be played in the conditions that prefer pacers. The visitors will want to solve their spin-related issues on this tour. At the very least, they need a specialist spinner ready-to-go for this format, though getting a primed spin all-rounder would be an even greater bonus.
Head-to-Head Matches:
South Africa has a better ODI record than Pakistan. Out of the 83 50-over games that both sides have played, the Proteas got over the line on 52 occasions. With one game ending without any result, Pakistan won the remaining thirty. The last both sides played an ODI game was during the ODI World Cup 2023 in Chennai, where South Africa bested a thrilling game by one wicket.
Weather and Pitch Report:
Paarl is a good venue for an ODI game. The surface offers just enough to score a middling total that makes the chase interesting as the conditions become more stringent later in the game. The surface typically keeps low and also offers a miserly amount of pace. It will be a great place for spinners to flaunt their skills and they could very well be the deciding factor between the two sides. One of the positives for the batters is that the boundaries are relatively shorter and clearing the gaps will be easy but every ball will have to be played on its merits because these short boundaries tend to be the juiciest traps for the batsmen at this venue.
Paarl is usually a hot town but thanks to the rain a couple of days ago, the weather will be slightly nicer.
Prediction:
It’s Pakistan’s favourite format and the presence of their regulars will make sure the results reflect that too.
Where to Watch:
Pakistan: Tapmad, Tamasha, Geo Super, PTV Sports
South Africa: SuperSport
UK: SkySports, SkyGo App
India: Sports18, JioCinema App
USA: Willow TV
