MATCH ANALYSIS IN BRIEF

KEY BETTING STATS

• South Africa has won nine of their last 11 official ODIs, six of those coming in the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup – To Win the Match.
• Marco Jansen has taken over 1.5 wickets in seven of South Africa’s last eight 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup group stage matches – Bowler Match Wickets.
• Rahmanullah Gurbaz has scored under 27.5 runs in each of Afghanistan’s last three 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup group stage matches – Batter Match Runs.

BETTING ANALYSIS For SOUTH AFRICA

While South Africa has already qualified for the semi-finals of the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup, they will want to enter the knockout stage on the back of a victory rather than consecutive defeats following their crushing 243-run loss to India this past weekend. Their usually dominating batting line-up misfired and were bowled out for 83, chasing 327, so expect a significant improvement from them here. Any rotation to the team will likely be made within the bowling attack.

As of Wednesday night, Quinton de Kock remains the highest run-scorer across the entire competition, having amassed 550 runs after eight games so far. Passing three figures on four separate occasions and with a high score of 174, a stake on De Kock to score another hundred (4.50) for the Proteas opening the batting looks a shrewd move, as does backing him to finish as South Africa’s top batter (4.00). However, those bettors looking for a safer option should back De Kock to score 30+ runs (1.66), especially with him averaging 68.75 across the group stage so far.

Investment in South Africa’s bowlers should only be considered once the team line-ups have been released, with the potential of changes being made as they potentially look to rest a number of players ahead of the semi-finals. Should he be named in the side, then Marco Jansen has to be the first port of call for bettors when taking into account his consistency. The tall left-arm pacer averages over two wickets per game over the course of the competition, with 17 scalps as it stands. This World Cup has proven extremely lucrative for left-arm quick bowlers, and it’s worth backing this trend to continue here with Jansen to take 2+ wickets (1.66) via the ‘Bowler Milestones’ market.

When considering how helpless the Afghanistan bowlers were when it came to stopping Australia’s Glenn Maxwell from clearing the ropes on Tuesday, South Africa’s biggest-hitting batters could well be eying up inflicting more punishment on them, especially with confidence likely to be low on the Afghanistan side. Aiden Markram may be one of those players, so back him to score over 0.5 match sixes (2.00).

BETTING ANALYSIS For AFGHANISTAN

Afghanistan looked in a prime position to move into the top four of the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup group and leave knockout qualification in their hands as a result after reducing Australia to 91/7, chasing 292. But a stunning unbeaten 201 from Glenn Maxwell, supported by Pat Cummins in an unbroken record eighth-wicket partnership of 202, left Afghanistan somehow on the losing side. Such a defeat is likely to have flattened morale in the Afghanistan dressing room, and it won’t be easy for them to pick themselves back up and go again.

Following such a difficult result, so much will depend on the experienced Afghanistan players to rally and support their younger teammates out on the pitch. Rashid Khan has not taken the wickets he would have wanted across the tournament so far, with the opposition playing him carefully, well aware of the threat he poses. But South Africa may look to play Rashid with more freedom and risk, which could lead to success for the spin-bowler. Back Rashid to accrue over 1.5 wickets (2.20).

On the batting front, opener Ibrahim Zadran made history on Tuesday, becoming the first Afghanistan player to score a hundred in an ICC Cricket World Cup. Such a fine innings of 129 not out against Australia demonstrated his quality, and he’ll surely be confident of taking that form into this final group game. Consider backing Zadran to score 30+ runs (1.90) with additional investment in him to finish as Afghanistan’s top batter (4.33) for those bettors looking for a higher potential return.

CRICKET 8’S EXPERT PREDICTION

Although South Africa doesn’t have anything to play for from a qualification point of view with their place in the next round secure, expect them to be fully motivated for this game. Afghanistan will need to win to give themselves any hope of reaching the semi-finals, and it could be the case that they’ll be required to gain victory by a specific margin in order to achieve the required net run rate that takes them above New Zealand, depending on the Black Caps’ result against Sri Lanka on Thursday.

The reliability of Quinton de Kock from a run-scoring perspective should see him shine once again, and he’ll be desperate to record another big total to guarantee that he finishes the group stage as the tournament’s top run-scorer. His stylish stroke-making is expected to see him profit against the new ball, and it would be no surprise to see him find the boundary rope with regularity, scoring over 4.5 match fours for a fourth time in five innings.

TIP

QUINTON DE KOCK TO HIT OVER 4.5 MATCH FOURS (2.20)

More Betting Tips in CWC 2023

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