Pakistan face up to their bogey team
South Africa's bowlers and batsmen have had great success against Pakistan, who are 0-3 in World Cup contests between the two sides

1999 The last time the two teams played each other in the World Cup, and South Africa have beaten Pakistan thrice in three meetings. South Africa also have a 7-3 win-loss record in recent contests as well.
1-8 Win-loss record of teams batting first in day/night games at the Eden Park. There have been only two 250-plus targets set in the last ten ODIs. As many as four of them have been below 200 and teams have been bowled out eight times as well.
23.75 Average runs scored by Pakistan's top order (Nos. 1 to 3) in this World Cup - the lowest for any Test team. Among the 14 sides, only Afghanistan and UAE have fared worse. While Pakistan's top order has made only 285 runs in four games, South Africa's Hashim Amla and Faf du Plessis have made 250-plus runs each from the same number of innings.
6 Single-digit scores by Quinton de Kock in 12 ODI innings in Australia and New Zealand. He has scored 319 runs in the period under consideration. He made 207 of them in two outings, but the last four have produced just 27.
105.28 Average runs scored by South Africa's middle order (Nos. 4 to 7) in this World Cup. Bangladesh, whose middle order has scored 47.22 runs per wicket, are a distant second and are the only other team to average more than 40. South Africa are the only team whose top and middle orders have averaged over 40 in the 2015 competition
85.53 Runs per wicket for South Africa, in matches other than the one against India, in this World Cup. The three games against West Indies, Ireland and Zimbabwe have produced as many as five hundreds and four fifties from their batsmen, who have scored runs at a strike rate of 122.46.
3.30 Pakistan's economy in the batting Powerplays in this World Cup - the only team with a figure less than four. But they will come up against a set of batsmen who have been the best in these overs in the tournament. South Africa have hit 202 runs in their four batting Powerplays losing only three wickets in the process.
4s | 6s | Runs | Balls | RR | Wkts lost | Bat Ave | |
South Africa batting | 17 | 7 | 202 | 120 | 10.10 | 3 | 67.33 |
4s | 6s | Conc | Balls | Eco | Wkts taken | Bowl Ave | |
Pakistan bowling | 4 | 0 | 66 | 120 | 3.30 | 5 | 13.20 |
61.18 AB de Villiers' batting average against Pakistan in ODIs. He has scored 1346 runs, with three hundreds and nine fifties. No other batsman has scored 1000-plus runs against Pakistan in 50-over cricket at a better average. De Villiers is also the leading run-scorer from the current team for South Africa against Pakistan.
Batsman | Inns | Runs | Ave | SR | 100s | 50s |
AB de Villiers | 29 | 1346 | 61.18 | 89.79 | 3 | 9 |
Hashim Amla | 17 | 777 | 48.56 | 90.66 | 2 | 4 |
JP Duminy | 15 | 469 | 39.08 | 76.38 | 0 | 3 |
Quinton de Kock | 7 | 270 | 38.57 | 79.64 | 1 | 0 |
Faf du Plessis | 9 | 251 | 27.88 | 74.04 | 0 | 1 |
David Miller | 14 | 250 | 20.83 | 77.16 | 0 | 1 |
14 Wickets Dale Steyn has taken in his last three ODIs against Pakistan - 6 for 39, 3 for 33 and 5 for 25. Overall, he is the leading wicket-taker for South Africa from their current squad against Pakistan with 22 wickets at 17.22 apiece. Umar Akmal is the one who is most susceptible to Steyn out of the Pakistan squad; he has been dismissed thrice in 30 deliveries. Younis Khan - who might not play - is the only one not to be dismissed by Steyn, having scored 24 balls from 43 balls.
Bowler | Inns | Wkts | Ave | SR | Eco | 4ws/5ws |
Dale Steyn | 10 | 22 | 17.72 | 25.63 | 4.14 | 0/2 |
Morne Morke | 11 | 20 | 21.15 | 30.80 | 4.12 | 1/0 |
Imran Tahir | 7 | 12 | 24.66 | 31.50 | 4.69 | 1/0 |
Wayne Parnell | 5 | 8 | 26.12 | 30.25 | 5.18 | 0/0 |
Vernon Philander | 3 | 6 | 14.33 | 28.00 | 3.07 | 0/0 |
5 Times Mohammad Irfan has dismissed Amla in eight matches - the most by any bowler in ODIs. Amla has scored only 69 runs off 94 balls from Irfan. Irfan's 19 wickets against South Africa in have come at an average of 19.76. Shahid Afridi - who needs five more wickets to become the first allrounder to 8000 runs and 400 wickets in ODIs - is the leading wicket-taker for Pakistan against South Africa with 37 at 39.94.
Bowler | Inns | Wkts | Ave | SR | Eco | 4ws/5ws |
Shahid Afridi | 37 | 37 | 39.94 | 51.13 | 4.68 | 0/0 |
Mohammad Irfan | 10 | 21 | 19.76 | 25.14 | 4.71 | 1/0 |
Wahab Riaz | 11 | 7 | 69.85 | 69.42 | 6.03 | 0/0 |
9 Times Pakistan have been bowled out by South Africa in the last ten ODIs between the teams. No other side has managed to bowl out Pakistan more often. Pakistan's batsmen have averaged just 18.88 runs per dismissal in these games.
Batsman | Inns | Runs | Ave | SR | 100s | 50s |
Younis Khan | 39 | 990 | 26.05 | 66.00 | 0 | 6 |
Shahid Afridi | 38 | 826 | 22.32 | 120.58 | 0 | 4 |
Misbah-ul-Haq | 21 | 671 | 37.27 | 73.01 | 0 | 5 |
Ahmed Shehzad | 8 | 330 | 41.25 | 72.05 | 1 | 2 |
Umar Akmal | 9 | 202 | 22.44 | 77.69 | 0 | 1 |
Sohaib Maqsood | 5 | 198 | 39.60 | 76.15 | 0 | 2 |
Shiva Jayaraman is a sub-editor (stats) at ESPNcricinfo.com
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