ICC World Cup 2019 | South Africa’s predicted XI for match against India

06/05/2019

After slumping to consecutive defeats to England and Bangladesh, South Africa face a stern test today as they go head to head against one of the tournament favourites - India. The Proteas will be keen to get off their duck today and a loss could practically end their hopes of a semi-final spot.

Openers

Quinton De Kock

The 26-year-old has been in a very good touch recently and has probably been his team’s best batsman in the first two matches, having scored an impressive 68 runs against England in the tournament opener and following it up by getting off to a good start against Bangladesh, only to get run out in an unfortunate incident. With the pitch expected to be batsman-friendly, the onus will be on him to get his team off to a good start.

Hashim Amla

After having missed the previous game following a concussion from a Jofra Archer bouncer in the game against England, the return of the experienced opener will be a huge morale boost for the Proteas. Having countless records to his name in the ODI format, he is already a legend for his country and will be looking forward to providing another of his sublime batting displays to get his team on the front foot early on.

Middle-order

Aiden Markram

The 24-year-old is one of the most promising talents in world cricket at the moment and has been entrusted of the huge responsibility of batting at the crucial number three spot. With a player of David Miller likely to be sidelined to accommodate him, apart from the skipper sacrificing his favoured batting spot for him, Markram will be looking forward to make good on his reputation and carry forward with the food vein of form he has been in, after he narrowly missed out on a half-century in the last game.

Faf Du Plessis

The South African captain’s batting performance was one of the few positive highlights from an otherwise disappointing showing against Bangladesh. 136 caps to his name, he is well capable of reading what the situation demands of him and is equally able at building the innings and scoring big runs as well as accelerating at the right moments to get his team to a good score. His wicket will probably turn out to be the most crucial one for the Indians.

Rassie van der Dussen

Named by the board as one of the cricketers of the year in 2018, he has only played 11 ODIs but has already scored five half-centuries at an impressive average of 74. All eyes will be on him to see how he tackles the situations as the last pure batsman in the line up.

All-rounders

JP Duminy

With nearly 200 ODI caps and more than 5000 runs in the format, JP Duminy has had a pretty good career so far. The 35-year-old is quite difficult to stop once he gets going, and his ability to play the long shots and give a boost to the scoring rate in the death overs may turn out to be crucial in crunch situations. He will have a big responsibility on him as beyond him, there isn’t much of batting firepower in the lineup.

Dwaine Pretorius

Having made his debut three years back, he has since been in and out of the squad and as a result, has only managed to earn 20 ODI caps since. Primarily a bowling all-rounder, Pretorius had an off day against England as he failed to take a wicket or make an impact with the bat, leading to him being dropped for Ngidi against Bangladesh. However, with Ngidi ruled out with hamstring concerns, the 30-year-old will most probably get a chance to make his mark as his raw pace is bound to give some trouble to the Indian batsmen.

Andile Phehlukwayo

The 23-year-old has racked up impressive numbers already in his young career, with around 1700 runs and 57 wickets in 44 ODIs for the Proteas. He put up a brilliant bowling display as he not only maintained an economy of below 6 runs per over but also took two major scalps which helped restrict the opposition though to no avail in the end. He has so far failed to impress with the bat in the tournament but the record shows that he has enough firepower in his kitty to turn out to be a game changer.

Pacers

Chris Morris

The lanky pacer can trouble opponents with the pace and bounce that he offers with his bowling action. Capable of putting in a decent shift with the bat, he picked up two very crucial wickets against Bangladesh and will be hungry to effect the Indian batting line up some real damage.

Kagiso Rabada

One of cricket’s best young players, Kagiso Rabada is as lethal as fast bowlers come. Fierce attitude, troubling pace and uncanny accuracy, he already has 108 wickets in 68 ODIs at the tender age of 24. The only player to ever win six awards at the annual dinner hosted by his country’s cricket board, he will be the main threat to India’s world-class top order and after his recent comments on Kohli, he will be eagerly waiting to show his mettle to the world.

Spinner

Imran Tahir

His record is pretty impressive in the 50-over format and the 40-year-old’s googlies have put even the best batsmen in the world to shame in the past. Having picked up the tournament’s first wicket, he struggled a bit thereon against England but made a strong comeback against Bangladesh as he picked up two wickets and restricted them to less than six runs an over off his bowling. A regular in the IPL, he knows some of the Indian batsmen all too well which may set up some interesting encounters on the pitch tomorrow.