South Africa’s chances of progressing to the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019 semi-finals seem all but over after their narrow loss to New Zealand on Wednesday. While their bowlers have troubled the opposition in each of the previous three occasions, the batsmen have failed to give them enough runs to play with. The Faf du Plessis-led side will look to produce performances similar to that of their series win against Pakistan earlier this year, when they take the field on Sunday.
After producing contrasting results in their first two matches, Pakistan’s performance has slipped in their last two games. While a batting failure handed them a 41-run defeat against Australia, lack of intensity and consistency in all the three departments resulted in an 89-run defeat against their arch-rivals, India.
Mohammad Amir has created an impact in his each outing so far, but has got little or no support from the other end. The batting too, barring the game against England, has failed on a consistent basis. Repeated failures of their experienced middle-order batsman Shoaib Malik might mean that Pakistan consider Haris Sohail for a spot in the playing eleven on Sunday.
