Couch Critic provides his betting tips for the first ODI between South Africa and England which takes place in Cape Town on Tuesday 4th February
SOUTH AFRICA vs ENGLAND 1st ODI - 04 Feb, Cape Town @ 13:00
SETTING THE SCENE
The Proteas’ issues in the test series was well publicised but now they get a chance to put all of that behind them and move onto white ball cricket. Being a post-World Cup season most teams are taking the opportunity to rejuvenate their sides for the future.
England will give us our first glimpse of Tom Banton in international action. The 21-year old has been setting the T20 game around the world alight. Mat Parkinson (leggie) and Saqib Mahmood (seamer) are also fresh faces involved. The Curran brothers will also be looking to cement their places in the English white-ball set-up. Ben Stokes, Jos Butler, Mark Wood and Jofra Archer are the big World Cup names given a break for this series.
The South Africans have used the opportunity to blood a new leader in the form of Quinton de Kock. Janneman Malan and Kyle Verreynne are the young’uns given their shot at the bigger stage whilst JJ Smuts, Temba Bavuma, Beuran Hendricks and Bjorn Fortuin have been rewarded for consistent local performance. The Proteas won’t have Imran Tahir or Kagiso Rabada to call on with the ball and Faf du Plessis sits out as well.
LET’S TALK TACTICS
Rabada and Tahir have led the SA attack over the past few years whilst Amla and Faf have been the backbone of the batting. It certainly is a new dawn for the South Africans. De Kock carries the captaincy cap but will also have considerable responsibility in terms of getting the team off to a fast start with the willow and then also going on and turning brisk starts into big scores. David Miller becomes an even more important player with less experience around him as someone like Duminy is also no longer involved. At his best, Miller wins matches on his own but consistent contributions have been a shortcoming of his game – time to turn that around!
A combination of Banton and Jason Roy promises to be a power-couple but Johnny Bairstow will also be in the mix to start at the top. Root might have his issues in tests but in ODI cricket he is one of the very best in terms of managing an innings. Eoin Morgan will want to hit the ground running on his return as he is one if the few lower order hitters in the English squad.
Bowling wise some fringe players get a chance to put their hands up for a more permanent gig. Tom Curran arrives off the back of being in sublime bowling form for the Sydney Sixers whilst Chris Jordan is likely to be tasked with the crucial death-bowling task. Adil Rashid will fancy his chances of a good series against the locals who often struggle against spin.
For the home team Tabraiz Shamsi will want to step up and show that he is ready to fill the void left by Tahir as the first-choice spin bowler for South Africa. Lungi Ngidi needs a strong series after having continued injury problems and the young Lutho Sipamla will be waiting for his chance. Andile Phehlukwayo is now an experienced international who needs to take up a leadership role with his efforts.
HOW I SEE IT PLAYING OUT
Looking at these squads one has to think the English will fancy their chances of piling on the hurt after the test series. The World Champions are missing a few key players but the home team have lost vital performers who they relied on heavily – these voids wont be filled overnight.
The Newlands track usually offers a good balance as we see relatively good scores (but not often far over 300) and seamers as well as spinners have a chance.
The new skipper has played quite a bit of cricket at Newlands and De Kock was comfortably the best SA batsman on display in the test series so I will back Quiny to perform in the first match. Bowling wise Tom Curran’s Sixers form has me favouring him to keep things going whilst Phehlukwayo’s price has me interested since he should get plenty of overs to bowl and often does duty at the death as well.
My last two players are on the English to use their power players to clear the rope more often than the home team whilst I can easily see Root playing a match defining innings in the format which suits him best of all.
Best Bets with BETOLIMP:
Top South Africa Batsman – Q de Kock @3.60
Top England Bowler – Tom Curran @4.70
Top SA Bowler – A Phehlukwayo @6.20
Team to score most Sixes – England @ 1.90
Man of the Match – J Root @11.40
Extra Series Bet:
Top South Africa Batsman – T Bavuma @7.30
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change
Couch Critic
