Pakistan’s win in the fourth ODI in Johannesburg on Sunday means their series against South Africa has gone into a deciding match, and that eagerly awaited clash comes from Cape Town on Wednesday.
It is simply winner-takes-all as far as the series is concerned and with it having gone one way and then the other throughout thus far, nobody really knows which way this final match is going to end up going.
Sign up to BetVictor before Chelsea vs Bournemouth kicks off on Wednesday to get a HUGE 30/1 on Chelsea to win! Click the image above to bet. 18+ T&Cs apply
South Africa
I would imagine South Africa would have been confident of landing the series when they went 2-1 up with Johannesburg next on the fixture list. The ball is renowned for doing plenty there, but instead they were shot out cheaply and never game themselves a chance to win, so their task in this deciding match is pretty simple. They must bat better.
To be fair, although they were defending a nothing total admittedly, they didn’t bowl overly impressively and that was the second match on the trot that their bowlers were lacking in potency. That has to be a concern going into a big game in the context of the series and the rankings, as well as landing a psychological blow ahead of the World Cup.
Pakistan
This has been a really up and down series for Pakistan, although I daresay they are used to that given the lack of consistency that often follows them about. The one thing we can say about them is when they have been good, they have been very good, but sadly for them when they have been bad they have been terrible and it is that which is holding them back.
One positive heading into this deciding match is that their top order has delivered the goods for them in their previous two matches. If it has one more good batting effort in it then there is every chance that they will go on and claim the series, because at no point really have South Africa got on top of their bowling in the first four matches.
Team News
You would think that South Africa would now leave any rotation and forward thinking to the T20s now that the series is yet to be won. That could mean that we see an unchanged side from them for this decider.
Pakistan will be without their captain Sarfraz Ahmed who is continuing his suspension. Shoaib Malik will continue to lead the side and Mohammad Rizwan will keep the gloves in what is likely to be an unchanged side.
[the_ad_group id=”3624″]
Betting
Matches at Cape Town in the past have tended to be high scoring affairs and with that being the case I think Pakistan are the side to be on in this decider. Their batsmen have looked the better of the two sets in this series so far and their bowling attack is really delivering the goods, and there is no reason why that won’t continue in this decider.
South Africa are never the best in pressurised situations which leads me to think that we could be in for quite a nervy affair. With that in mind it makes sense to be on the team who held their nerve in the Champions Trophy 18 months ago or so. Pakistan have looked the better side the longer the series has gone on and I think they can prove that here.
Tips
Back Pakistan to win 5th ODI for a 4/10 stake at 2.50 with William Hill
Back them here:
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2019
