CRICKET WORLD CUP: BETDAQ’s Gerard Browne previews India v South Africa which looks set to be a very important game.
India vs South Africa
India become the last team to take part in this year’s World Cup when they face South Africa on Wednesday, who remain pointless after two games. The sides clash at the Rose Bowl in what is the first game hosted at the Southampton venue. India are trading are 1.5 on the exchange for this game and South Africa are priced at 2.62.
There is a lot of excitement surrounding India and especially their batting attack. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli on their day are the two best in the business. MS Dhoni has been in great form this year and was Player Of The Series vs New Zealand back in February. Despite losing their opening warm up game vs New Zealand, India had a comfortable win vs Bangladesh in their second warm up to keep the momentum from earlier in the year going.
This is already turning into a “must win” for South Africa. Sunday’s defeat to Bangladesh was not part of the script. They were always going to be left with an uphill task after Bangladesh’s innings when they set South Africa a tough target of 331 to win. It proved too much as South Africa fell short by 21 runs, posting 309-8 from 50 overs. 309 runs would be enough to win most games but Faf du Plessis was their top run scorer with 62. Two games into the tournament and no South Africa player has scored a century yet. Between Bangladesh’s second and third wickets, South Africa gave up 142 runs. There is also mixed news on the injury front. After missing the opening two games with a shoulder injury, fast bowler Dale Steyn is now ruled out of the rest of the tournament. However, better news, Hashim Alma is back training after missing the Bangladesh game with concussion.
India will be cold going into this game as it’s their first outing and eight days since their last warm up game. The pressure is building on South Africa and their bowlers know they can’t afford to give away over 300 runs for the third game in a row. Lungi Ngidi and Kagiso Rabada never claimed a wicket vs Bangladesh. If South Africa are to claim a much needed victory then that can’t happen again. The forecast is for a beautiful day and given the batting potential of both sides, this could be a cracker. Having tipped South Africa to win the tournament, I’m standing by them to find form at the third time of asking.
Verdict: SOUTH AFRICA
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