South Africa v Afghanistan preview, player tips & predictions

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MATCH INFO
South Africa v Afghanistan
Venue: Cardiff Wales Stadium, Saturday, June 15, 1.30pm (British time)
Head to head odds: South Africa $1.14; Afghanistan $5.50
Last time they met: No previous ODI meetings.

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This is an intriguing contest given the teams have not met before in a one-day international match, though they have played a T20 and many of the players would have crossed paths in various T20 leagues around the world.

It has not been a memorable cricket World Cup for the Proteas, with sound defeats at the hands of England, Bangladesh and India, plus a washout against the West Indies, all but ending their dream of taking the title.

Afghanistan blew a great chance of racking up a win against Sri Lanka and this looms as a tough challenge given the South Africans’ powerful bowling attack.

While the result will mean little in the overall context of this World Cup, there are plenty of top-class individuals to focus on to make this match well worth watching.

The likes of superstar all-rounder Rashid Khan, who has not had as much success as he would have like so far, and for South Africa the powerhouse opener Quinton de Kock.

Our top cricket bookmaker William Hill if offering the full suite of markets on this match and, weather permitting, there should be opportunities to turn a profit.

This South Africa v Afghanistan betting preview will run you through betting options for match 21 of 48 of the ICC World Cup 2019.

South Africa v Afghanistan odds:

For full markets visit the William Hill website.

HEAD TO HEAD BETTING:
South Africas $1.14, Afghanistan $5.50
Prediction: South Africa are ranked third by the ICC in this form of the game and came in with high expectations. They may well take out their frustrations on the 10th-ranked Afghanistan and should win handsomely.

TOP RUN-SCORER BETTING:

South Africa:
Top five in betting: Quinton de Kock $3.75, Hashim Amla $4.50, Faf du Plessis $4.50, Aiden Markram $5, Rassie van der Dussen $6.

Top scorers from past five ODIs:
v West Indies: Match abandoned
v India: Chris Morris 42
v Bangladesh: Faf du Plessis 62
v England: Quinton de Kock 68
v Sri Lanka: Aiden Markram 67no

Afghanistan:
Top five in betting: Hazratullah Zazai $4.33, Rahmat Shah $4.50, Noor Ali Zadran $5.50, Mohammad Nabi $6.50, Hashmatulla Shahidi $6.50.

Top scorers from past five ODIs:
v New Zealand: Hashmatulla Shahidi 59
v Sri Lanka: Najibullah Zadran 43
v Australia: Najibullah Zadran 51
v Ireland: Mohammad Shahzad 101
v Ireland: Asghar Afghan 29

Top batter prediction: This is the last match at this venue for this World Cup and it has at times proven difficult for batting, with the notable exception of when England racked up 6-386! None of the batsmen in these two teams has been a standout so we might shop around for value and have something on Rassie van der Dussen at $6 to be South Africa’s leading run-scorer, while for Afghanistan we will try a real longshot and bet that in a low-scoring match Rashid Khan can live up to the all-rounder tag and top-score at $34 with William Hill.

TOP WICKET-TAKER BETTING:

South Africa:
Top five in betting: Kagiso Rabada $3.50, Imran Tahir $4, Lungi Ngidi $4.50, Chris Morris $5, Tabraiz Shamsi $5, Beuran Hendricks $5.

Top wicket-takers from past five ODIs:
v West Indies: Match abandoned
v India: Kagiso Rabada 2-39
v Bangladesh: Imran Tahir 2-57, Chris Morris 2-73, Andile Phehlukwayo 2-52
v England: Lungi Ngidi 3-68
v Sri Lanka: Kagiso Rabada 3-50

Afghanistan:
Top five in betting: Rashid Khan $2.37, Mohammad Nabi $4.33, Mujeeb Ur Rahman $4.50, Hamid Hassan $, Dawlat Zadran $5.50, Gulbadin Naib $6, Aftab Alam $6.

Top wicket-takers from past five ODIs:
v New Zealand: Aftab Alam 3-45
v Sri Lanka: Mohammad Nabi 4-30
v Australia: Mujeeb Ur Rahman 1-45, Gulbadin Naib 1-32, Rashid Khan 1-52
v Ireland: Gulbadin Naib 6-43
v Ireland: Dawlat Zadran 3-35, Aftab Alam 3-28

Top bowler tip: It has largely been the pacemen of New Zealand, Sri Lanka and England who have done the damage in three previous matches at this venue in this tournament. We fully expect the trend to continue here with a barrage of pace from Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi and co to prove too hard for the Afghani team to handle. We will take the shortish odds about Kagiso Rabada, but be sure to check if he is included among William Hill’s enhanced odds offering on the day. For Afghanistan, we will bet on Rashid Khan to also star with the ball, as the South Africans will not have had a lot of practice against his wonderful bowling.

WGL best bets: South Africa v Afghanistan

Each of our ICC World Cup betting previews will highlight some potential wins for punters, or where our cricket tipsters think there is value to be found.

Kagiso Rabada man of the match: $11

The top-class paceman has run into form and at his best he is difficult for any team in the world to handle. If the pitch comes up a little juicy as expected, look out.

Kagiso Rabada and Rashid Khan over 5 wickets combined

A strange one, yes, but we think this is a pretty likely outcome in this match and the $4 on offer has tempted us into a small bet to add extra spice this contest,

South Africa v Afghanistan prediction

Cannot come at South Africa at the short odds simply to win, especially with rain threatening to play a part, but there are plenty of contests within the contest to make this an interesting one for the neutrals. Hope the Proteas cope with Afghanistan’s unorthodox bowling line-up is just one factor making it worth a look. Good punting.

ALSO READ:
ICC World Cup 2019 betting guide
ICC World Cup 2019 leading wicket-taker
Cricket betting sites
ICC World Cup 2019 leading run-scorer
ICC World Cup 2019 player of tournament

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