Who would have thought that two of the red-hot tournament favourites, India and South Africa will be playing a virtual quarter-final in the 2017 Champions Trophy? Yes, World number 1 team South Africa take on India in a must-win encounter for both the teams at the Oval in London on June 11.
After thrashing their respective opponents in the first round of matches, both the teams failed to register a victory in their second match and go into the third round of matches needing a win to qualify for the semis.
Extra cover: 5 players to watch out for in India vs South Africa
The winner will be guaranteed a place in the last-4 and in all likelihood, they will finish at the top of the Group B points table, irrespective of the result in the other match. It is certain that only one of these two teams will go through to the next round.
However, there is a slight possibility that both the teams could qualify, but for that, both the third round matches in Group B have to end without producing an outright result.
After beating Sri Lanka by 96 runs in the first game, South Africa were shocked by Pakistan as they lost to Sarfaraz Ahmed and co. by 19 runs via DLS method. After choosing to bat first, the Proteas were off to a good start before their spinners and fast bowler Hasan Ali pulled things back as they reduced them to 118/6 in 29 overs from 60/1 in 14 overs.
The South African batsmen had no answer to the Pakistan bowlers as they finished their 50 overs with a score of 219/8, thanks to an unbeaten 75 from David Miller.
Extra cover: Qualification scenario for each team in the ICC Champions Trophy 2017
In spite of losing some early wickets in the chase, the Pakistani batsmen made sure that they were ahead on the DLS par score and ran away with the match when the rain forced the umpires to call it off. This put AB de Villiers and co. in a spot of bother going into their final group game.
On the other hand, India came into the tournament as the favourites and lived up to the tag when they beat Pakistan by 124 runs in their first match.
However, Kohli’s men failed to deliver in their second match against Sri Lanka as their South Asian rivals beat them by 7 wickets and opened up the group. India’s loss means both the last round matches in Group B are virtual quarter-finals.
Going into the match between India and South Africa, both the teams have some concerns as their main batsmen, Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers are coming into this match after scoring a duck in their previous matches.
Apart from that, the Indian team management will want their bowlers to come out all guns blazing unlike their match against Sri Lanka. Also, the Indian openers have been slow at the start of the innings, something that should be looked into going into the match against South Africa.
In spite of being slow, the openers have looked good and once again, a good start will be expected from them for the batsmen following them to cash in.
Extra cover: R Ashwin could feature in playing XI against South Africa
In games like these, one can expect the Indian run machine Kohli to score big and the Indian fans will want their skipper to score a big century and put them in the driver’s seat. Off-spinner R Ashwin is likely to feature in the playing XI and is likely to replace Kedar Jadhav.
South Africa, on the other hand, have their bases covered and will expect the top order to fire. Quinton de Kock has a knack of scoring runs against India and the left-hander will look to dominate his favourite opposition once again.
The weather is set to be fine and the wicket for the match will be the same 22-yard strip that was used for the clash against Sri Lanka. So, one can expect a lot of runs from the batsmen when both these teams square off.
Winners: South Africa are the favourites to beat India.
Note: Win Probability is based on form and history. The data considers ODI performances since WC 2015.
Stats provided by ZeLadder, the data platform for amateur and professional sports.
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