After a quick tour of South Africa in January-February earlier this year, the Pakistan cricket team is back in the Proteas’ backyard for 3 ODIs and 4 T20Is now.
With the Pakistan Super League getting indefinitely postponed mid-season owing to the global virus, Pakistan cricket players were out of action for almost a month. Hence, the Men in Green will grab this chance to improve their record in South Africa following a Test and T20I series win earlier this year.
Pakistan share an old rivalry with South Africa in the 50-over format, as the two teams have clashed a whopping 79 times in ODIs so far. And South Africa have been quite dominant both at home and in overall head-to-head record.
| Head-to-Head Overal |
||
| South Africa | Metrics | Pakistan |
| 79 | Matches | 79 |
| 50 | Wins | 28 |
| 1 | No Result | 1 |
| 63.3% | Win Percentage | 31.4% |
| Head-to-Head in South Africa |
||
| South Africa | Metrics | Pakistan |
| 34 | Matches | 34 |
| 21 | Wins | 12 |
| 1 | No Result | 1 |
| 61.8% | Win Percentage | 35.3 |
The South Africa cricket team has remained undefeated at home in their last five bi-lateral series (where they have played minimum of 2 matches). They have hosted strong opponents like Australia, England, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Zimbabwe and apart from England, all have lost in South Africa.
Pakistan, on the other hand, have drawn a grim picture while playing the bilateral ODI series (where they have played minimum of 2 matches) away from home. The Men in Green have played England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Zimbabwe away from home, with their only win coming against Zimbabwe.
However, the lob-sided record doesn't paint the full picture for Pakistan. The one aspect that Pakistan have dominated South Africa in recent times is their average first innings total away from home in bilateral series.
While South Africa average 258.6 while batting first in the last five innings at home, Pakistan batsmen have averaged 283.2 in the same number of innings away from home.
| Pakistan top scorers in last 5 ODI Matches | ||||||||
| Players | Matches | Innings | Runs | Highest | Average | Strike Rate | 50 | 100 |
| Heinrich Klaasen | 3 | 3 | 242 | 123* | 242 | 105.67 | 1 | 2 |
| David Miller | 5 | 4 | 173 | 69* | 173 | 110.19 | 0 | 2 |
| Jon-Jon Trevor Smuts | 4 | 3 | 156 | 84 | 52 | 78 | 0 | 1 |
| South Africa top scorers in Last 5 ODI Matches |
||||||||
| Players | Matches | Innings | Runs | Highest | Average | Strike Rate | 50 | 100 |
| Babar Azam | 5 | 5 | 359 | 101* | 89.75 | 86.92 | 1 | 2 |
| Imam-Ul-Haq | 5 | 5 | 206 | 100 | 41.2 | 80.46 | 1 | 0 |
| Haris Sohail | 4 | 4 | 190 | 89 | 47.5 | 95.95 | 0 | 2 |
Hence, the decision after winning the toss should be easier for the visitors. Both South Africa and Pakistan, however, have lost three of their last five coin tosses on ODIs.
Not only that, but both Pakistan and South Africa come into the ODI series by winning four out of their last five completed ODI matches.
Feature Image Courtesy: AFP/ Phill Magakoe
