ICC World Cup 2019 – Match 5: SA vs BAN – South Africa Predicted Playing XI

South Africa will be back on the field to face Bangladesh in their second game of the tournament. The first encounter against England didn’t pan out as per the plans. Bowlers failed to execute the plans in this encounter despite picking a few quick wickets in the final 10 overs. As a result, they ended up conceding over 300 runs and the team also got it wrong at the toss.

They chose to bowl first but the pitch kept slowing down as the game progressed. As a result, most of the batsmen couldn’t make much of an impact resulting in a 104-run loss. Hence, there is a lot of catching up to do for this team. First and foremost, they need a win under their best and secondly, the team has got to improve upon the Net Run Rate. At this stage of the tournament, the Proteas would feel that it is too early to make changes to the eleven.

Here is the Predicted Playing XI for South Africa

Openers (Quinton de Kock (wk), Hashim Amla)

Quinton de Kock was the best batsman for South Africa in the tournament opener against England. He scored 68 runs from 74 balls in that game and looked clinical in his approach. A lot of South Africa’s chances will depend on him in the upcoming games as well and he must continue providing his team with good starts.

Hashim Amla, after suffering the blow on his helmet off the bowling of Jofra Archer, immediately walked off the field. When he came back to bat, his side was already in deep territories of trouble and he couldn’t do much. But he seems to be in good touch and will look forward to putting up an improved performance in the next game.

Middle Order (Aiden Markram, Faf du Plessis (c), Rassie van der Dussen, JP Duminy)

Skipper Faf du Plessis sacrificed his number three spot for Aiden Markram in the last match. However, he failed to deliver the goods. There is a great responsibility on him batting at the crucial number three spot as someone like David Miller will have to be sidelined to accommodate him in the eleven. It is important for Markram to be more picky with his shots early in his innings.

Faf du Plessis, Rassie van der Dussen and JP Duminy will be the other three batsmen in the middle order. Both the skipper as well as Dussen are in good form. But it is important for them to bat for longer durations of time and not throw the starts away. Even Duminy needs to take the onus upon himself as there isn’t much firepower left in this line-up once he is dismissed.

All Rounders (Dwaine Pretorius, Andile Phehlukwayo)

While they are usually good with the ball in the middle overs, both Dwaine Pretorius and Andile Phehlukwayo had an off day against England. While the former went wicketless, the latter managed to dismiss the dangerous Jason Roy. Even though they don’t pick many wickets, it is important for this duo to restrict the run flow in the middle overs by bowling tight lines and lengths.

Some lazy and indecisive running in between the wickets cost Pretorius his wicket with the bat in the previous match. There is no scope of slackening in the tournament as big as this and he must be on the top of his game. Phehlukwayo, on the other hand, fell victim to a brilliant effort from Ben Stokes who also ran Pretorius out.

Bowlers (Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Imran Tahir)

The troika of Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi and Imran Tahir all struggled in the first game. Their performance clearly affected South Africa’s chances. Even though they managed to pick two, three and two wickets respectively, these three frontline bowlers conceded more than six runs an over.

Being the best options available for the team, they must’ve performed better. Someone like Dale Steyn was clearly missed when the other bowlers were under the pump and Faf du Plessis opined the same. Since he might not be available for the upcoming match as well, it is important for Rabada and Ngidi to execute the plans well at the death and use their variations smartly.