South Africa vs Pakistan, 2nd ODI Match Preview, Prediction and Live Streaming

Pakistan had every reason to mess up the chase in the first ODI at Boland Park. Teams batting second don’t usually find it easy to get home at the venue. Add to this the ominous signs of the deck getting lower by the end of South Africa’s batting. Pakistan’s slow start did not make it any better. But what’s the thing about all automatically becoming well when the ending is as per your liking?

It would be unfair to pin all the credit on the team’s juju. Pakistan won the first game all credit to their temperament, something that gets generously rewarded in this format. Not only does it win you games, but it also empowers you to materialize a win out of the situation like what Pakistan faced.

The hosts seemed not prepared for the early onslaught by Pakistan bowlers, particularly against the spinners. Yet, the batting lineup collapsing would have been the least of Aiden Markaram’s worries at that point. That the visiting spinners were getting heavily paid with the ball and that his side had only one proper spinner must have weighed heavier on his mind. As it turned out, his concerns were not in vain. South Africa were short on their spin resources on a ground that offered sharp turns, and so they found it challenging to gain strong authority over Pakistan, despite making them work hard for the runs at the start.

Team Overview:

Temba Bavuma is likely to take his captaincy duties back from Markaram. Keshav Maharaj, who was left out of the eleven in the first match, has been reported to have picked a groin injury, so the Proteas will be without his services in the second game. Tony de Zorzi and Ryan Rickleton were decent as the openers, and it is likely that South Africa will persist with them at the top. The bowling lineup will need some more spark in it. The pacers can be expected to bring more on the table in Cape Town than what they did in Paarl, so that may bring some relief to the hosts. But that makes thing rather daunting for the batters, who will have to fare more strongly against more fiery Pakistan pacers.

Saim Ayub missed out on his century in the last T20 game but made sure the same did not happen in the opening ODI match. Doing so he gave his side a chance, and a pretty strong one at that, to win the game. More importantly, it was a comprehensive effort from the team to do what they did in Paarl. Salman Ali Agha seemed to be on liquid luck. His four back-to-back scalps had the Proteas struggling to get the score on the board. So, Pakistan’s key to win the next game will again lie in the bowlers laying the groundwork and batters trying to capitalize on it. There were some broken links in the side that might need some polishing before the next game. Babar Azam looked good but yet again failed to register a big score, and before him Abdullah Shafique scripted another failure. Mohammad Rizwan was another one of the side’s worries.

Head-to-Head Matches:

South Africa has a better ODI record than Pakistan. Out of the 84 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-one. The last time both sides played in Cape Town was in 2019, when South Africa bested the game by seven wickets.

Weather and Pitch Report:

Cape Town has a batting-friendly surface, but not too flat. The pacers can hope to find success here more than they did in Paarl yet spinners, especially legspinners, will again hold the sway. The venue has very strong winds of around 25 to 40 kilometers per hour blowing during this time of the year which could impact the area the batters will want to target. A target of 280-290 will be par on this surface.

Prediction:

It would be a challenge for the Proteas to resist Pakistan, especially on Cape Town’s surface, this will make Mohammad Rizwan’s men to be the favourites one again.