Pakistan - South Africa Predictions & Betting tips - ICC Men's Cricket World Cup

Prediction published on 25/10/2023, 17:45  by Devesh Jaganath | Modified on 25/10/2023 at 20:31

With the first half of the 2023 Cricket World Cup behind us, game 26 of 48 will see Pakistan take on South Africa on Friday morning. The Men in Green are in fifth place in the standings with four points, while the Proteas are second with eight points. With two wins and three losses in five matches, Pakistan are at risk of missing out on the semi-final spot. Needless to say, there is a lot riding on them claiming a victory here. However, very little has gone their way in this competition, underlined by their shocking eight-wicket loss to Afghanistan in their last match. Their primary concern revolves around the underperformance of key players, such as star batsman Babar Azam, who has not met the expected standards in this tournament so far. Sheheen Afridi has fired hot and cold for the most part and will be fully tested again here against a South African top order that looks in fine form. Despite their underdog status, though, Pakistan have gotten the better of South Africa of late with four wins in their last six matches. They also won the most recent ODI series against this opponent 2-1 back in April 2021. 

Meanwhile, South Africa came into the 2023 Cricket World Cup a little under the radar, but they have made quite a splash in the competition to date. The Proteas have won four and lost just one of their five matches, leaving them two points behind the current leaders India. South Africa made their intentions clear early in the tournament by setting a new World Cup record in their first match, scoring 428/5 against Sri Lanka. They followed that with wins over Australia, England and Bangladesh, though they did suffer arguably the biggest upset of the competition, losing to the Netherlands in game three. The South Africans' batting performances have been incredible for the most part, led by Quinton de Kock, who has already scored 407 runs in just five innings. The left-handed opener is the current highest run-scorer in the competition, 53 runs clear of Virat Kohli in second place. Kagiso Rabada has been the standout with the ball for the Proteas, currently on ten wickets and tied for fifth place in the standings.