THE EDGE: The Edge previews the Cricket World Cup clash between PAKISTAN v SOUTH AFRICA with a recommended BETDAQ bet.
Pakistan v South Africa
MATCH OVERVIEW:
We have a cracking fixture at the Cricket World Cup on Friday as Pakistan face South Africa on BETDAQ Betting Exchange. This is an absolutely must win game for Pakistan after three losses in a row. The losses against India and Australia were setbacks, but the defeat to Afghanistan was a real damaging blow to their top four hopes. It’s pretty much baked in that sides can lose a few games throughout the group stage; but you cannot afford to be dropping points against Netherlands, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan when we all know the top sides are all going to take points off each other.
So, Pakistan are in a position that they need to win every game and they need other results to go their way. Ironically for South Africa, they dropped points against the Netherlands but that’s been their only loss so far! Their batting has been absolutely superb; apart from the shock Netherlands game they have won every other game by over 100 runs. When you’re beating the likes of Australia and England by over 100 runs you know you’re in a good place! It will be fascinating to see how their batting does now they move to Chennai which is a spin friendly ground.
South Africa have scored close to 400 twice in a row now, but a score of close to 300 might be enough here. That being said, Pakistan would have been very pleased at the innings break with 282/7 on the board before Afghanistan chased it down. Pakistan traded very short in-running, but their spin bowling was quite poor. If they’re going to have a chance here, that needs to improve. We have a fascinating game ahead.
WEATHER AND PITCH WATCH:
This is the fifth and final game at Chennai. The first inning scores so far have been 199 all out (chased), 245/9 (chased), 288/6 (won by 149 runs) and 282/7 (chased). I have to say the 282 chased by Afghanistan here was a massive shock – Pakistan would have been close to 1.1 at the innings break. As I said above, their bowling wasn’t good enough but it does show chasing is possible here if a massive partnership is formed. It would still be a small surprise to see a score of over 300, and I feel you have to bat first giving conditions.
RECOMMENDED BET:
We have two impressive batting units here, so the key will be who bowls better. Pakistan have already posted a new World Cup record chase against Sri Lanka, but the Sri Lankan bowling has been very poor in fairness. The South African batting has been faultless, but I would suggest Pakistan need to bat first and try put them under pressure. Netherlands benefitted from runs on the board; for the other games South Africa got to bat first and pile on the runs. I expect a pretty close game here, and I feel the toss will be massive. I would like to back Pakistan at 2.6 if they bat first; I feel that would give them a massive chance to put pressure on the South Africa batting. If we see South Africa bat first then we might see another masterclass, and then I would opt for no bet.
The Edge Says:
Two points win Pakistan (if they bat first) to beat South Africa at 2.6 with Betdaq Exchange
View the market here -> https://betdaq.biz/PakSth
IN-RUNNING STRATEGY:
As I mentioned above, I feel the toss will be big here. I know Afghanistan chased down a reasonably big score here but that’s a pretty rare feat here. I think whoever bats first here will have a big edge, and it would actually be very interesting to see how South Africa handle chasing with pressure rather than putting runs on the board. They have pretty much blown sides away so far with the bat! Pakistan have the batting line-up to deal with conditions, my worry would be their bowling but I would expect the side who bats first to offer the best trade in-running here.
