Chennai: A rampaging South Africa, who are currently on the second spot in the points table, would look to crush a listless Pakistan when the two teams face off in a league fixture of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup here on Friday.
Pakistan will hope to break its losing streak after its three back-to-back losses and is currently placed fifth on the points table with four points with two wins and three losses.
South Africa have bulldozed Sri Lanka, Australia, England and Bangladesh in their campaign barring their shocking defeat at the hands of greenhorn Netherlands at Dharamshala.
For South Africa, the biggest strength has been their batting and the scintillating form of wicketkeeper-batter Quinton De Kock, who has already smashed three hundreds in the marquee tournament.
The southpaw, who has all shots in his book, can take any attack to task and Pakistan's will be no exception. If De Kock fires fires on all cylinders, then South Africa can post a challenging total or can chase any massive target.
The absence of regular skipper Temba Bavuma has not felt as Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markram, and a marauding Heinrich Klaasen have played their parts to perfection.
Klaasen has been the cynosure of eyes in this tournament and he has been hitting sixes and fours at wills. It is Klaasen, who has been in the form of his life and has rose to the occasion, when his side needed.
Dawid Miller would need to get some runs under his belt and he would be eyeing a big score against the likes of Shaheen Afridi, Shadab Khan and others.
Expect for the game against the Netherlands, the South African batting line up has fired on all cylinders and they like to continue the show at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, popularly known as Chepauk.
South African bowlers led by lethal Kasigo Rabada have been lethal and they have wreaked havoc. Spinner Keshav Maharaj will also have an important role to play at the Chepauk, where the track is likely to assist the spinners. South Africa have ticked all the boxes and a win on Friday would make the road easy to qualify for the last four stage.
For Pakistan, so far the marquee tournament has been the one to forget. After winning the opening two games against the Netherlands and Sri Lanka respectively at Hyderabad, the Babar Azam led side suffered a downfall.
The Men in Green have lost all their next three games against India at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, against Australia at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru and then were stunned by neighbours Afghanistan here.
This is a make or break game for Pakistan and a defeat here would make the road to the semifinal extremely difficult.
The biggest concern for Pakistan is the form of their skipper Babar Azam, one of the batting greats in the modern day era. But Babar Azam has failed with the bat and he needs to get going. But the task isn't easy for Babar as he faces a strong South Africa attack.
Another two key players for Pakistan are opener Abdullaha Shafique and Mohammed Rizwan, who have the potential to turn the game on its head.
Opener Imam Ul Haq will also be keen to score big and help his struggling team.
The other major concern is Pakistan's bowling, who has failed to put up a clinical show. The bowlers would need to get their act right as they are up against a marauding South African top and middle order. Spinner Shadab Khan's role will be crucial on a turning track.
The Chepauk crowd would be anticipating a a cliffhanger and it remains to be seen whether it is one or a lop sided contest.
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