South African side after having a disappointing World Cup campaign in 2019, is back in this tournament as one of the favourites to win the World Cup title as their side has been producing results consistently under Temba Bavuma’s tenure as captain, hence going into this game they are expected to start as favourites in this tournament.
Here, in this article, we will have a look at South Africa’s playing XI for their opening match of ODI World Cup 2023.
Openers: Temba Bavuma and Quinton de Kock
Skipper Temba Bavuma is expected to open the batting with Quinton de Kock in all the matches. Bavuma averages 54.68 with the bat in ODIs and along with his consistency on the other side Quinton de Kock’s aggressive batting would help their team to produce great starts in the tournament.
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Middle Order: Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen, and David Miller
South Africa’s middle-order batting depth have solid players like Rassie van der Dussen, Heinrich Klaasen, and Aiden Markram who are known for playing building partnership at the crucial stage to change the course of the game. Along, with the mentioned names David Miller’s experience and his firepower with the bat will help their side to finish the innings on a very high note.
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All-Rounder: Marco Jansen
The left-arm tall pace bowler will be a great asset for the Proteas team with both bat and ball. The inclusion of Jansen in the side gives fear to the opposition as batters generally struggle to play left-arm pace bowlers and his ability to go for big shots in the death overs will make him worth it as a talented all-rounder in the side.
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Bowlers: Keshav Maharaj, Tabraiz Shamsi, Lungi Ngidi and Kagiso Rabada
South African pace attack in the absence of their express pace bowler Nortje, would look to start with playing their two premier bowlers Rabada and Ngidi in the XI. Keshav Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi could be very challenging for the Sri Lankan batting attack in spin-friendly conditions.
