A do or die situation for both the teams to keep the hopes alive for semi-final birth. One of them will surely be ruled out of the tournament after losing the match here.
Nobody knows how good or bad these two teams will play against each other, however, for a neutral fan, this will be fun to watch them play in such a scenario where a win is a must.
South Africa has shown its true colour against New Zealand when they couldn’t defend a total of 241 despite dismissing their top 4 at the score of 8. They dropped catches, missed run outs and panicked in the final few overs like they are the champions of it. The choke word has already arrived for them in the tournament, and it would be difficult for them now to remove the tag easily.
Pakistan after losing to India is desperate to take the field and prove a point to their fans. The team and captain are under tremendous pressure as they have been criticized heavily for their poor performance in this World Cup. They have won just one game and lost 3 with one washout against Sri Lanka.
A sunny and dry day is expected at Lord’s which is hosting its first World Cup match of the current edition.
Players to watch out for
Imran Tahir would be the key bowler for South Africa in the middle overs. He bowled beautifully against Afghanistan and New Zealand, and it was difficult for the batsmen to score off him in those two games. It will be interesting to see how he bowls against the country of his birth, where he learned the art of spin bowling.
Mohammad Amir, the highest wicket-taker for Pakistan in the competition, is ready to take on the South African batting line up which looked fragile in the tournament so far. If he takes early wickets, then it would be easy for Pakistan to build the pressure from the begging of the South African innings.
Pakistan v South Africa in ODIs:
Overall: Matches 78, Pakistan Won 27, South Africa Won 50, No Result 1
World Cup: Matches 4, Pakistan Won 1, South Africa Won 3
Recent Form (most recent first): Pakistan L L NR W L, South Africa L W NR L L
ICC Rankings: Pakistan (6), South Africa (4)
Upcoming Records:
Shoaib Malik has taken 98 catches and needs two more to reach the 100 catches milestone.
Wahab Riaz has 29 wickets in the World Cup, and he needs just two wickets to become the third highest wicket-taker for Pakistan in the World Cup.
Squads:
Pakistan: Sarfaraz Ahmed (capt & wk), Asif Ali, Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Sohail, Hasan Ali, Imad Wasim, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Hasnain, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Wahab Riaz.
South Africa: Faf du Plessis (capt), Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock (wk), JP Duminy, Beuran Hendricks, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Chris Morris, Lungi Ngidi, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Imran Tahir, Rassie van der Dussen.
