Betting Tips

The hosts are all but back to full strength after the return of Miller, Tabraiz Shamsi, Heinrich Klaasen and other first-choice stars. But they are without Anrich Nortje, who has been sidelined by a toe injury. Pakistan’s squad has a familiar feel and Sufiyan Muqeem has been retained after showing promising signs against Zimbabwe earlier this year. We are in for an entertaining contest between two of the most exciting ODI teams in world cricket.

South Africa vs Pakistan Head-to-Head Record

South Africa and Pakistan have an even spilt of five wins each in their last 10 ODI meetings. The last time they played each other in this format in South Africa was in 2021, when Pakistan won the series 2-1.

South Africa vs Pakistan Live-streaming and Broadcast

The Proteas and Pakistan will contest the first match of their three-ODI series at Boland Park in Paarl on Tuesday, 17 December 2024. Fans in India can stream the fixture on the JioCinema app. The match will be broadcast on Sports18 as well.

SA vs PAK Team Previews

South Africa

Proteas limited-overs coach Rob Walter has struggled for series wins lately. This is a telling comparison to Test coach Shukri Conrad, who is on the brink of coaching his team to the World Test Championship final. Walter needs an ODI series win against Pakistan here.

It shows in the squad selection, too, which is light on experimentation and laden with experience this time. The presence of Miller and Klaasen certainly beefs up the middle order, while Shamsi and Maharaj are two of the best spin bowlers in the world.

The bowling attack is going to be hard pressed against an opposition order featuring the mercurial Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan. These two have so much experience and talent, but perhaps Pakistan have an overreliance on the pair, which the Proteas can explore.

South Africa reached the semi-final of the ODI World Cup in 2023 and narrowly missed winning the T20 World Cup in 2024. There is no doubt that it has a very strong white-ball setup and goes into this match as the firm favorite.

We think South Africa has a lot of match winners with the bat, can accelerate and take advantage of the restrictions with its power-hitters, and is also going to be reliably better than Pakistan in the field. With the return of its first-choice bowlers, we don't see too many weaknesses.

South Africa Expected Playing 11

Pakistan

You can look forward to key individual and collective performances from Pakistan’s pace barrage. Shaheen Afridi is full of confidence after claiming 100 wickets in T20I cricket recently and Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah are bowling with scary speeds.

The South African batters are not necessarily deterred by genuine pace, but lateral movement and swing, which Rauf, Shah and Afridi are very capable of producing, can really get the better of the home team’s order.

Pakistan will be mindful of the need to successfully combat South Africa’s all-rounders. Andile Phehlukwayo and Marco Jansen can win matches with bat or ball – or both. Pakistan have a couple of exciting all-rounders in Kamran Ghulam and Salman Agha as well.

The over-reliance on the two senior batters, Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, makes Pakistan very vulnerable with the bat. Babar has been struggling for quite some time to find his best form and we don't see him being as dominant as he was the last time he played ODI cricket in South Africa.

The new-look batting order for Pakistan does not really address all of the problems they have been facing for quite some time now.

Pakistan Expected Playing 11

SA vs PAK Toss Prediction

Four of the last tosses in ODI cricket at this ground have seen decisions to bat first. It’s likely the team to win the toss this time will do the same.

Pitch and Conditions

A first-innings score of 290-plus can be considered competitive at this ground, which has relatively short square boundaries. The spinners can anticipate some extra bounce. Hot and dry conditions – typical of the region this time of year – can be expected.

SA vs PAK Betting Tips

South Africa home ground advantage, all their big ODI stars back in the squad and plenty of momentum on the back of this month’s T20I series win against Pakistan. They should take an early ODI series, reasonably comfortably, here.

Bet on South Africa to win.