ODI Cricket Preview – South Africa vs India

By Greg Stewart

Three ODI matches have been scheduled for January following on from the three match, International test cricket series won by SA last week.

Boland Park in Paarl, where the first two ODI matches will be played has some interesting cricket statistics with an average ODI 1st innings score of 242 and a second innings average score of only 175. The highest score successfully chased at this venue was 250 runs (SA vs Sri Lanka) and the highest first innings total was 353 (SA vs Bangladesh) - Winning the toss and setting a decent chase target here may just make all the difference on this relatively sluggish pitch.

SA vs India ODI schedule:

• Wednesday 19^th January 2022:
  • Cricket Ground; Eurolux Boland Park, Paarl
  • Match Start time (SA time) 10H30
• Friday 21^st January 2022:
  • Cricket Ground; Eurolux Boland Park, Paarl
  • Match Start time (SA time) 10H30
• Sunday 23^rd January 2022:
  • Cricket Ground; Six Gun Grill Newlands, Cape Town
  • Match Start time (SA time) 10H30

Following their defeat in the test series, India, who in their last ODI series in 2018, achieved a historic and emphatic 5-1 first ever ODI series victory against South Africa, will be itching to even the scales with a series win before they head home. The Indian squad will be led by KL Rahul as India’s new ODI skipper as Rohit Sharma will not available due to fitness issues while South Africa will be led by ODI skipper Temba Bavuma.

South Africa will need all cylinders firing to win this ODI series as their most recent history shows that they have won just three of their last eight ODIs.  Temba Bavuma will be hoping his squad finds the same ODI form they have seen in the T20’s having won 13 of their last 16 matches. The key issue for SA is their batting line-up and getting the right mix of batsmen to bowlers right. Quinton de Kock, will be back as opening batsman with Janneman Malan his opening partner, who has achieved an amazing 661 runs from his 10 ODI innings so far.

Rassie van der Dussen, Kyle Verreynne and the dynamic ODI specialist batsman David Miller should be included on form unless coach Mark Boucher opts to use Aiden Markram in place of Verreynne. SA’s bowling attack is likely to be Tabraiz Shamsi and Keshav Maharaj both Spinners with speedsters Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi.

Betting Selections From SunBet

• To score a half century: De Kock at 2.5:1 & Lokesh Rahul at 2.5:1
• Top Run Scorer: Janneman Malan at 4.5:1 or De Kock at 3.75:1
• Top Wicket taker: Rabada at 3.75:1 or Jasprit Bumrah at 3.75:1

Best Combination Bet option: India to win 1^st ODi + India to score most 4’s + SA to score most 6’s + SA Opening partnership to score over 28,5