ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023: Chase masters take on strong defenders as India South Africa face off
The 37th match of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 will see two teams that have clearly shown their prowess with chasing the score and defending the target. On one hand, there is India, a team that has already qualified for the semi-finals and arguably the best chasers in the tournament, and on the other hand, there is South Africa, known for posting humongous scores and defending them with ease, are just a formality away from making it to the knock-outs.
India and South Africa will come face to face on November 5 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
Head-to-Head
India and South Africa have played 90 ODIs against each other between 1991 and 2022, of which India have won 37, South Africa have won 50, and three matches did not produce results. In India, they have played 31 ODIs against each other, of which India have won 17 and South Africa have won 14. At the World Cups, the two teams have met five times, with South Africa winning the first three matches and India emerging victorious in the last two.
| Particulars | India | South Africa |
| ICC ODI Rankings | 1 | 4 |
| Wins in ODIs | 37 | 50 |
| In India | 17 | 14 |
| At World Cups | 2 | 3 |
Performance in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 so far..
India and South Africa will play their eighth match of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023. Of the seven matches, India have remained unbeaten winning all their matches, whereas South Africa have won six and lost just the one game. Digging deep, India have won five matches chasing scores and South Africa have won five matches defending totals. These numbers clearly indicate both teams’ preferences with regards to what they are comfortable with.
| Match number | India | South Africa |
| 1 | Beat Australia by 6 wickets | Beat Sri Lanka by 102 runs |
| 2 | Beat Afghanistan by 8 wickets | Beat Australia by 134 runs |
| 3 | Beat Pakistan by 7 wickets | Lost to Netherlands by 38 runs |
| 4 | Beat Bangladesh by 7 wickets | Beat England by 229 runs |
| 5 | Beat New Zealand by 4 wickets | Beat Bangladesh by 149 runs |
| 6 | Beat England by 100 runs | Beat Pakistan by 1 wicket |
| 7 | Beat Sri Lanka by 302 runs | Beat New Zealand by 190 runs |
Squads
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishan Kishan, Prasidh Krishna, Suryakumar Yadav.
South Africa: Temba Bavuma (c), Gerald Coetzee, Quinton de Kock, Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Andile Phehlukwayo, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Rassie van der Dussen, Lizaad Williams.
Injury updates
India’s all-rounder Hardik Pandya has been ruled out of the World Cup because of ankle injury, which he sustained during the game against Bangladesh on October 19. Prasidh Krishna has been named as his replacement.
Playing conditions
Eden Gardens in Kolkata will host the encounter between India and South Africa. It will be a day night match. The venue will host its third match of this tournament. The teams batting first and second have won one game each. Though the first two matches played here did not produce plenty of runs, with India and South Africa playing next, the two teams boasting of batting powerhouses, expect a high scoring contest.
Weather
The weather is expected to be hazy. The maximum temperature attained during the day will be 33 degrees Celsius. There will be 99% cloud cover and 4% chance of rain. The wind will blow from the north.
Players to watch out for
Virat Kohli: The India’s chase master has played some amazing cricket in the tournament so far scoring 442 runs in seven matches at an average of 88 and strike rate of 89. Celebrating his birthday today, he would like to equal Sachin Tendulkar’s record of most ODI centuries.
Mohammad Shami: Though ignored for the first four matches, this India’s right arm pace sensation has been phenomenal in the three encounters that he was part of. He has picked 14 wickets, including two fifers and one fourfer.
Quinton de Kock: The South Africa wicket-keeper-batter has been in sublime form with four centuries in seven matches. He has muscled 545 runs at an average of 78 and strike rate of 113, including the best of 174.
Marco Jansen: This left-arm speedster of South Africa has claimed 16 wickets in seven matches and is the most successful bowler for his team. Besides, his batting abilities are noteworthy as he provided useful runs at number seven.
Milestones alert
- Virat Kohli (48) is one century away from equalling Sachin Tendulkar’s (49) record of most centuries in ODIs and needs 28 runs from completing 1500 runs in World Cups
- Keshav Maharaj needs 2 wickets to complete 50 ODI wickets
- Temba Bavuma needs 22 runs to complete 1500 ODI runs
- Quinton de Kock needs 5 runs to complete 1000 runs in World Cups and one century to go past AB De Villiers (4), who has the most centuries in World Cups
- Mohammad Shami (45), the leading wicket-taker for India in World Cups needs 5 wickets to complete 50 wickets
Match details
Date: November 5, 2023
Time: 2:00 PM IST
Venue: Eden Gardens, Kolkata
Live streaming: Star Sports, Hotstar
All the statistics are sourced from ESPN Cricinfo