The fourth ODI at Wanderers Cricket Stadium in Johannesburg on Sunday has turned into be a must-win game for Pakistan; otherwise, South Africa will seal another series victory against the visitors.
South Africa has so far succeeded to keep its Pink ODI record intact, and remains unbeaten. Even overall, South Africa’s ODI record at Johannesburg is exceptional.
Out of their 35 previous One Day Internationals (ODIs) at Wanderers Stadium, South Africa lost just six while two ODIs got abandoned.
But in contrary, Pakistan not only lost all of its four ODIs at this venue against South Africa, it also registered just one victory in overall nine matches against various opponents.
Tomorrow, we #PitchUpInPink to fight breast cancer! We’ve seen some amazing outfits in the recent past & we can’t wait to see what you turn up in on Sunday. Catch #SAvPAK at the Wanderers from 10:00. The match is sold out, so catch it live on SS2 & SABC 3. #PinkDay #ProteaFire pic.twitter.com/XawYNy58IV
— Cricket South Africa (@OfficialCSA) January 26, 2019
The Wanderers Cricket Stadium offers conducive batting conditions in ODIs. The venue has witnessed over 400 runs being smashed thrice.
The last ODI between Pakistan and South Africa at Wanderers Stadium on March 17, 2013 also yielded over 300 runs in each innings.
In Pink ODI, Fakhar Zaman’s consistent failure in last three ODIs may pave the way for Shan Masood to make his ODI debut. But rest of Playing XI doesn’t have any obvious reasons to be altered.
South Africa leads the series 2-1
Earlier Pakistan lost the rained-affected third ODI under the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) method at Centurion.
Despite having scored 317 runs in first innings and getting both South African openers out for 79, Pakistan failed to tighten its grip in the match.
South Africa’s Reeza Hendricks and Faf du Plessis built a 108-run partnership for third wicket, which continued till the end.
The match was interrupted twice by rain and eventually umpires had to call it off. But since South Africa was 13 runs ahead of the D/L par score when heavy downpour began to fall for the second time, the Host was declared winner.
Amir does not have a wicket in his last 6 ODIs. The longest wicketless sequence for a Pakistan fast bowler in 15 years. Not a good sign for Pakistan four months before the World Cup. #RSAvPak
— Mazher Arshad (@MazherArshad) January 26, 2019
