GameDay Squad Cricket Match Preview: South Africa come up against New Zealand in the 32nd match of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup in Pune on the 1st of November.
New Zealand played Australia in their sixth match of the CWC, and Australia won by 5 runs. New Zealand won the toss and elected to field first and this may have been the wrong decision. Australia came out firing on all cylinders and their openers dispatched the New Zealand bowling attack to all parts of the ground. New Zealand finally managed to break the opening partnership between Warner and Head in the 20th over with the score at 175. New Zealand managed to slow down the Australian batters through the middle stages before Maxwell, Inglis and Cummins scored some quick runs in the final ten overs. New Zealand managed to bowl Australia all out for 388 in the 50th. The New Zealand run chase was off to a quick start but lost the wicket of Conway in the 8th over with the score at 61. Young departed shortly after before Ravindra and Mitchell put on 96 for the third wicket. New Zealand continued to lose wickets regularly but were able to keep the required run rate under control. Some late heroics from Neesham wasn’t enough as New Zealand just fell short of the 389-run target. This has been the best game of the CWC in my opinion so far.
The top performers in GDS for New Zealand were.
Rachin Ravindra – 177 points
Glenn Phillips – 123 points
Trent Boult – 114 points
James Neesham – 107 points
Mitchell Santner – 82 points
South Africa played Pakistan in their sixth match of the CWC, and South Africa won by 1 wicket. Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat first. South Africa was off to a good start with the ball and had Pakistan 38/2 in the 7th over. They made it hard for the Pakistan batsmen to form any decent partnerships and every time it looked like Pakistan might be getting the upper hand, South Africa would take another wicket. South Africa ended up bowling Pakistan all out in the 47th over for 270. South Africa were off to a very fast start in the run chase before de Kock was dismissed in the 4th over with the score at 34. South Africa continued to lose wickets regularly but were able to stay ahead of the required run rate. It looked like they were cruising through to victory with the score at 206/4 in the 34th over but then Afridi and Rauf started to take wickets. Suddenly South Africa found themselves 260/9 in the 46th over. They made it to the target of 271 in the 48th over.
The top performers in GDS for South Africa were.
Marco Jansen – 135 points
Aiden Markram – 124 points
Tabraiz Shamsi – 117 points
Gerald Coetzee – 69 points
Quinton de Kock – 67 points
Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium & Pitch Information
The pitch in Pune is sometimes regarded as a batter’s paradise. Fast bowlers may see some seam and swing movement to begin with. However, they will need to bowl a good line and length if they are to keep the batsmen in check. There have been two matches played at this ground so far this CWC. The 17th match Bangladesh vs India and the 30th match Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka. Both matches have been won by the chasing team. We have seen bowlers take 22 wickets across these matches, fourteen to seam and eight to spin.
South Africa vs New Zealand predicted XIs
South Africa: Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock, Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Gerald Coetzee/Tabraiz Shamsi and Lungi Ngidi
New Zealand: Will Young, Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Jimmy Neesham, Matt Henry, Trent Boult and Tim Southee/Lockie Ferguson
Who to play in your GDS starting XI
Batters
The three batters that I am likely going to start will be Devon Conway, Daryl Mitchell and Rassie van der Dussen. Over the CWC these batters average the following points in GDS.
Devon Conway – 64 points
Daryl MItchell – 75 points
Rassie van der Dussen – 48 points
In GDS there are nine players combined from New Zealand and South Africa that have the batter position designation. Six of these nine players are predicted to play, three from both New Zealand and South Africa. Mitchell is the pick of the batsmen from me. He has featured with the bat five times so far this CWC and he has scored one 100, two 50s and averages 64 runs a match. Conway will be my next pick as I believe he offers a higher ceiling than the other predicted to play batters. After his 152 against England in his first match, he has failed to impress with the bat and averages only 25 runs over this last five innings. I’m leaning towards van der Dussen as my third batter. His form line is very similar to Conway’s this CWC as he scored a century in his first match and has only averaged 22 runs over his last five innings.
If you don’t have the suggested three players in your squad, I have ranked the remaining batters for New Zealand and South Africa in the following order. Will Young, Temba Bavuma and David Miller.
All-Rounders
The four all-rounders that I am likely going to start will be Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Aiden Markram and Marco Jansen. Over the CWC these all-rounders average the following points in GDS.
Rachin Ravindra – 119 points
Mitchell Santner – 101 points
Aiden Markram – 79 points
Marco Jansen – 109 points
In GDS there are seven players combined from New Zealand and South Africa that have the all-rounder position designation. Six of these seven players are predicted to play, four from New Zealand and two from South Africa. Jansen, Ravindra and Santner are the first three all-rounders picked for me. Not only because they have a better average in GDS but also because I think they are likely to bowl most of their allocated overs. All of them have been outstanding so far this tournament and they are all locked into my starting XI for this match. I’m leaning the way of Markram as my fourth all-rounder, mainly because of this form with the bat. He was also called upon to bowl for the first time this tournament in South Africa’s last match. I think it was because the pitch was suited to him as a bowler and I’m not sure how many overs we will see from him moving forward. Even without rolling his arm over, I think he is just that bit more consistent compared to Phillips and Neesham.
If you don’t have the suggested four players in your squad, I have ranked the remaining all-rounders for New Zealand and South Africa in the following order. Glenn Phillips and Jimmy Neesham.
Bowlers
The three bowlers that I am likely going to start will be Kagiso Rabada, Trent Boult and Matt Henry/Gerald Coetzee. Over the CWC these bowlers average the following points in GDS.
Kagiso Rabada – 87 points
Trent Boult – 74 points
Matt Henry – 82 points
Gerald Coetzee – 84 points
In GDS there are eleven players combined from New Zealand and South Africa that have the bowler position designation. Seven of these eleven players are predicted to play, three from New Zealand and four from South Africa. In my opinion, this is the hardest position in this match to select starters for. All the bowlers predicted to play average between 66-87 points in GDS. Rababa is the pick of the bowlers for me. He missed South Africa’s last game due to an injury niggle, but it sounds like he will be playing today. He’s taken 10 wickets in the CWC so far and only once has he taken less than two wickets in a match. This was against England, and he was only required to bowl six overs but still scored 74 points in GDS. Boult will be the second bowler I select for my starting XI. He hasn’t been at his wicket taking best so far this CWC but after being taken to by the Australian openers and able to finish strong at the back end of the innings, maybe his last performance can kick start his tournament. If Coetzee plays, I’ll be starting him as my third bowler. If he doesn’t, Matt Henry will likely start for me. I’ve been really impressed with Coetzee so far and he has been difficult to face for most batsmen. He’s taken 12 wickets and has three 3 wicket bags.
If you don’t have the suggested three players in your squad, I have ranked the remaining bowlers for New Zealand and South Africa in the following order. Tim Southee/Lockie Ferguson, and Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi.
Wicket Keeper
The wicket keeper that I am likely going to start will be Quinton de Kock. Over the CWC these wicket keepers average the following points in GDS.
Quinton de Kock – 109 points
Heinrich Klaasen – 75 points
Tom Latham – 39 points
This was the easiest selection to make for this match in my opinion. The difference between these three keepers’ averages says it all really. De Kock has been having great CWC and I believe he offers the higher ceiling out of the three. Mainly because of where he bats in the batting order and the form that he has been in. Both Klassen and Latham have put in the odd decent knock, but I don’t think either should be played ahead of De Kock in this match.
If you don’t have the suggested player in your squad, I have ranked the remaining wicket keepers for New Zealand and South Africa in the following order. Heinrich Klaasen and Tom Latham.