World Cup 2019: Pakistan vs South Africa preview

LONDON: Struggling Pakistan and South Africa will battle it out for a chance to stay alive in the World Cup and a place in the semi-final at Lord's today.  

Both Pakistan and South Africa have won just one match in the World Cup and stand on ninth and eighth position respectively on the points table.

The green shirts lone win in the tournament came against hosts England while their game against Sri Lanka was washed out. Their 29-run drubbing at the hands of India left the team with three points from five matches and needing them to win all four of their remaining matches. 

For Pakistan, their batting remains their main concern with no batsman making a mark so far apart from Babar Azam who has scored 163 in his four games. 

If Pakistan wants to have a realistic chance of making it into the next round, their batsmen need to step up.

Mohammad Hafeez who has scored 155 runs in the tournament, needs to be backed up with the likes of Sarfaraz Ahmed, Fakhar Zaman and Shoaib Malik who have yet to score tons for the green shirts.

It is expected Haris Sohail may find a place in today's playing XI against South Africa. 

On the other hand, Pakistan's bowling department has fared slightly better, with fast bowler Mohammad Amir the star for the green shirts with 13 wickets from five matches and a best of 5-30.  

Their opponents South Africa also have a win from their six World Cup games and must win today's game if they want to remain in contention for a spot in the semi-final. 

The Proteas who came into the tournament as one of the contenders have been unimpressive with their only victory of the tournament coming against Afganistan. 

Though the South African bowling department has been picking wickets left and right with Chris Morris, Imran Tahir and Andile Phehlukwayo, their batting department has been lacking. 

Apart from skipper Faf du Plessis, wicket-keeper batsman Quinton de Kock and Hashim Amla, no other batsman has done anything significant in the tournament.

Their poor batting performance led the team to an early collapse and a four-wicket loss against New Zealand.

The match between Pakistan and South Africa will begin at 2:30pm Pakistan Standard Time.

Weather Conditions in London

There will be intervals of clouds and bright spells with humidity and dryness throughout the day. 

PAK-SA ODI stats

Head to head matches: 78

PAK won: 27

SA won: 50

Tied: 0

No result: 1

Highest total: 392/6 by South Africa in 2007

Lowest total: 89/10 by Pakistan in 2006

Most runs: 1423 runs in 31 innings by AB de Villiers (SA)

Most wickets: 58 wickets in 32 innings by Waqar Younis (PAK)

Squads

Pakistan: Sarfaraz Ahmed (c, wk), Asif Ali, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Amir, Babar Azam, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Hasnain, Imam-ul-Haq, Shadab Khan, Shoaib Malik, Wahab Riaz, Haris Sohail, Imad Wasim, Fakhar Zaman

South Africa:  Faf du Plessis (c), Aiden Markram, Quinton de Kock (wk), Hashim Amla, Rassie van der Dussen, David Miller, Chris Morris, Andile Phehlukwayo, JP Duminy, Dwaine Pretorius, Beuran Hendricks, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Imran Tahir, Tabraiz Shamsi