India vs South Africa 2nd ODI Match Prediction

India's tour of South Africa continues with the second One Day International of a three-match series.

South Africa were victorious in the first ODI by 31 runs, which was quite an easy win in the end. India carried on making the same old mistakes that have plagued them over the last couple of years and they are too dependent on their top three making runs. While India was left with plenty to ponder, the South Africans had plenty of positives to enjoy.

Will India be able to fight back in this match or will South Africa win again to claim the Freedom Series? Read on to find out our prediction of who will win this cricket match.

South Africa Team Preview

Temba Bavuma said that South Africa played the perfect game in the first ODI, but while there were definitely plenty that they could take from that game, we are not sure that we would call it the perfect match. For instance, Bavuma himself ate up quite a number of deliveries, and they only scored 296 runs which is no longer a big total in ODI cricket. As a matter of fact, it looked like it might be around 30 runs too short at one point in India's run chase.

Aiden Markram looked a bit iffy as did Janneman Malan, while David Miller needed more time out in the middle. Rassie van der Dussen put on a great display and the way that he attacked India's spin bowlers bodes really well for the remaining games. If you are looking to make a cricket match prediction as to who South Africa's Top Batsman will be, we would recommend that you consider putting your money on van der Dussen.

Their bowling attack also seemed to lack a bit of bite. They opened the bowling with Markram, who was given far too much respect from the Indian opening batsmen - this will probably not happen again. Also, their seam bowling options are not as great as they used to be. Lungi Ngidi, Marco Jansen, and Andile Phehlukwayo will not cause the Indians nightmares, especially if the pitch is as slow as the one that we saw in the first match. Keshav Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi managed to exploit the conditions, but we do not think they picked up wickets because they outsmarted the Indian batsmen.

So, we do not agree with Bavuma when he says it was a perfect performance. It was a good performance, but India played poorly and all of their fans will be expecting some type of reaction on Friday.

India Team Preview

India started off well with the ball, but they failed to pick up enough scalps in the middle overs. We feel that they would have been quite content chasing 296 since the pitch was not acting up, but their batsmen let them down once again.

KL Rahul failed to get going and both Virat Kohli and Shikar Dhawan got out when they were on top of the South African bowling attack. If you are going to do some online cricket betting and want to place a bet on the top scorer for India, then you cannot look beyond their top three.

Their middle order at the moment is a big mess. In the first ODI, Rishab Pant batted at four, Shreyas Iyer batted at five, and Venkatesh Iyer was at number six. We feel that the latter and Pant are both batting one spot too high. India are struggling to find a consistent middle order player which makes it even more baffling that Suryakumar Yadav is sitting on the sidelines.

Their bowling attack looked pretty average in the first ODI. In our opinion, Jasprit Bumrah was their only bowler that looked like a constant threat. Ravi Ashwin was playing, but we think he is a poor choice for ODIs now as he does not get enough wickets in the middle overs. We think that the likes of Navdeep Saini or Deepak Chahar should be given a run in the side as they have good wicket-taking ability. Selections have plagued this India side for some time now, and we do not see many changes being made for this second ODI.

Toss Prediction

The team that wins the coin toss will more than likely opt to bat first. We do not see the wicket changing that much during the course of the game, so the winning captain will look to bat first, put a big score on the board, and then hope that scoreboard pressure takes its toll on the opposing team.

Pitch and Conditions

There will be a high temperature and no rain at all, so this game will definitely see a result. The wicket in Paarl in the first match was on the slower side of things, but there was still plenty on offer for the batsmen. The two teams scored more than 550 runs in the first game, and this should be the case once again in the second. The team that bats first will look to put at least 320 runs on the board.

The slow wicket could make it hard to hit sixes, so this is something that you should think about if you are betting at cricket betting sites.

Our Match Prediction

We are going to put our money on India to level the series. We do not think that the two teams will change much from the first game, and we do not see the Indian top three batsmen missing out two games in a row. India do have plenty of issues, but these are papered over when one or two of their top three batsmen get going and this is what we are banking on happening in this match.

Our match prediction: