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Stats Analysis

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

Shiva Jayaraman
06-Mar-2015
Mohammad Irfan bowled Hashim Amla out in the fifth over, Pakistan v South Africa, 3rd ODI, Abu Dhabi, November 6, 2013

Mohammad Irfan has dismissed Hashim Amla five times in eight innings, the most by any bowler in ODIs  •  Associated Press

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.
Pak bowling and SA batting in batting Powerplays
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.
Top South Africa batsmen v 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.
Top South Africa bowlers v Pakistan
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.
Top Pakistan bowlers v South Africa
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.
Top Pakistan batsmen v South Africa
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