Pakistan v South Africa Preview, World Cup 2019 Match 30, Weather Report, Pitch Report, Match Details

LONDON: This Sunday, World Cup’s two of the worst-performing teams – Pakistan and South Africa - will be contesting at the Home of Cricket, Lord’s.

Pakistan come into the match following back-to-back defeats against Australia and India. Under fire from all quarters, the Pakistanis know that their World Cup hopes hanging by a thread. They will have to beat the Proteas, then win their remaining three games against New Zealand, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.

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Match details

Match 30: Pakistan v South Africa

Venue: Lord's, London

Date: Saturday, 22 June

Time: 02:30pm PST, 09:30 GMT

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That’s not all. With just three points from five matches, Pakistan need results of other World Cup games to go their way in order to have a chance to make it to the last four.

South Africa, who arrived in London from Birmingham on Thursday evening, face an even worse situation. They have just one win from six World Cup outings and know that only a miracle can save them from yet another World Cup disappointment.

The Proteas came into the tournament as one of the leading title contenders but have punched below their weight in the contest where their only win has come against minnows Afghanistan.

There poor run of form continued against the must-win game against New Zealand at Edgbaston where South Africa threw away a series of opportunities to lose by four wickets.

They’ve been so sloppy that the formbook suggests Pakistan would be the favourite to win on Sunday.

But Ottis Gibson, South Africa’s coach doesn’t think so.

He believes Proteas will finish the tournament on a strong note. Pakistan should take note.

"We've still got three games to play and I'd like to think that we can at least play the way we know we can play," commented Gibson.

"The thing about the squad is that there are guys playing their last World Cup and I'd like to think that they will leave the world stage having signed off on a strong note."

"And there are some youngsters here that I'm sure will play in future World Cups. So they too would like to leave a statement. That's the way we've got to look at it," he said.

Leggie Imran Tahir and veteran batsman JP Duminy will both quit ODI cricket after the World Cup.

Gibson is surprised at the below-par showing of his star-studded team.

“It’s very disappointing of course and we did not do what we left South Africa to do. It’s still quite raw, but for whatever reason, the players have somehow been hampered and not able to put their best forward on the grandest stage. It is surprising because we’ve seen in series past that they are very good cricketers,” he said after the loss against New Zealand.

“We’ve spoken for a long time about being positive and aggressive, taking the game forward, but they have not been able to do that when it mattered most and to see them go into their shell has been surprising. They have not been able to reach those same heights and I need to think about why. There are a lot of things we could have done better, but ultimately it came down to not having enough runs on the board,” he said.

Weather report

There will be intervals of clouds and sunshine with humidity and dryness through the day.

Pitch report

Spinners had an impact in the second innings in the last ODI played at Lord's in July 2018, and the dryness might once again help the slower bowlers as the game progresses on Sunday.