South Africa begin their ODI journey under the captaincy of Temba Bavuma when they host Pakistan in a 3 match series starting at Centurion Park on Friday. We take a look at the series betting and also the match from a betting angle.
South Africa are favourites to win the series at 5/10 with Pakistan currently trading at 16/10. The series Correct Score market sees South Africa to win 2-1, 27/20 favourites and at the other end of the betting boards you can get Pakistan to win the series 3-0 at 8/1.
Click here for Series betting markets
South Africa will have their full squad for this opening match, but that won’t be the case for all of the games as the IPL players are going to be leaving after the 2nd match which makes it all the more important that they get off to a winning start.
The general impression Pakistan have left over the years is that they battle to play cricket in South Africa. While this might be true of Test Cricket they have actually done quite well in the shorter forms of the game.
For Pakistan all eyes will be on the exciting Babar Azam and how the skipper goes will no doubt have a big impact on the team and their performance in this series and for South Africa the leadership of Bavuma and form of De Kock will be key.
1st ODI Betting
South Africa 11/20
Pakistan 15/10
SUGGESTED BETS:
Top Home Batsman, Quinton de Kock at 22/10
With the burden of captaincy off him, I am expecting de Kock to focus on his batting and he can go well at a ground where the ball generally comes off the bat nicely and he has many good memories.
Top Away Batsman Babar Azam at 19/10
I mentioned the importance of Babar Azam above and he is a 19/10 favourite to be the Top Pakistani Batsman in this match. He has let me down betting wise in recent times but I reckon he makes amends on South African soil.
Top Home Bowler, Kagiso Rabada at 12/5
Rabada is heading off to the IPL and having been quite lightly raced recently (having had a very busy schedule) I am expecting him to burst out of the blocks and trouble Pakistan batsmen on this quick wicket.
Most Match Sixes, South Africa at 15/20
South Africa are favourites for the match, but they are also favourites to clear the boundary more times as they have some big hitters in the side and although Pakistan are quite capable of getting clearing the boundary themselves, I give South Africa a clear edge in this department.
Highest Runs Scored in a Single Over, Over 17.5 runs at 17/20
I have never taken this bet before, but I am just throwing it in for a bit of fun as I think the bat is going to dominate and would not be surprised if we get a couple of overs pushing the 20 run mark.
Click here to bet on all 1st ODI betting markets
Note: All prices correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
