South Africa vs Pakistan 1st ODI Tips & Preview - Hosts Start As Undeniable Favourites

By Nikhil Kalro

16 Dec 2024

Nikhil Kalro 16 Dec 2024

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South Africa and Pakistan clash in a three-match ODI series in Paarl
South Africa enjoys the home advantage with a strong squad
Pakistan relies on its potent bowling attack to challenge the hosts

South Africa and Pakistan (Getty Images)

South Africa vs Pakistan First ODI Preview
South Africa Form
South Africa Team News
Pakistan Form
Pakistan Team News

South Africa vs Pakistan First ODI Preview

South Africa and Pakistan now head into the second leg of a long tour with a three-match ODI series that starts in Paarl on Tuesday.

South Africa will bring lots of confidence and form from their T20I series win while Pakistan have plenty of work to do to recover from another tough series defeat on the road.

Both teams will use this series as preparation for the upcoming Champions Trophy. South Africa have picked a strong team for this series while several others remain injured.

Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi, Wiaan Mulder, Nandre Burger and Gerald Coetzee will remain out of this series due to injuries.

South Africa Form

South Africa will look to their regular captain Temba Bavuma, who found impressive form in the Test series against Sri Lanka.

The rest of South Africa’s top order is stacked with players that have been around the world for limited-overs tournaments, including Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller.

South Africa have also picked Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen, who will play a big part in these bouncy conditions.

"The bowling line-up features one of the fastest in the game in KG, and this series offers another great opportunity for a young talent like Kwena to come in and learn first-hand from the best," South Africa's white-ball coach Rob Walter said.

"In the batting department, we are thrilled to welcome back David and Heinrich, two of the most destructive players in the game. Overall, we are very pleased with this squad."

South Africa Team News

Markram, van der Dussen, Tony de Zorzi, Tristan Stubbs, Miller and Klaasen will form the top order for South Africa while Jansen will be the key allrounder in this squad.

While Keshav Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi have both been picked, only one of them may find a spot in the playing XI.

Pakistan Form

Pakistan will also field a strong squad for this series. Mohammad Rizwan will lead the team but Pakistan lack adequate experience with young players like Saim Ayub, Irfan Khan and Usman Khan in their ranks.

However, the team will take plenty of momentum from their series win against Australia on those tricky batting conditions.

The bowling attack has a bit more venom with Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah and Mohammad Hasnain forming the majority of Pakistan’s bowling resources.

Pakistan Team News

Pakistan have gone in with two wristspinners in Abrar Ahmed and Sufiyan Muqeem. Only one of them will get a slot with Salman Agha likely to pick up the remaining spin-bowling responsibility.

Verdict

South Africa v Pakistan - 1st ODI

South Africa look too strong for Pakistan in this one, particularly with the hosts fielding a strong team at home.

Even in Paarl, where conditions will be a bit more batting-friendly, South Africa’s bowlers should be able to extract a lot more and trouble Pakistan’s batters.

South Africa Win

Match Result

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