The last game of the league stage will see Afghanistan play South Africa at Bridgetown in Barbados. Both the sides lost their first game of the tournament to India and hence, it implies that the winner of this game will go on to the next round of the tournament.

On paper, it looks like South Africa (1/25 at Sky Bet) will be firm favourites to overcome the challenge posed by the first-timers Afghanistan. The novelty factor that was present when Afghanistan (10/1 at Bwin to beat South Africa) played India will now be missing given that the world would have now watched their performance against India and will know what to expect out of them.

The South African bowlers would have seen how the Afghanistan batsmen struggled against the short-pitched bowling in the India game. Karim Sadiq (8/1 at Boylesports) and Mohammad Shahzad (5/1 at Stan James, both to top-score for Afghanistan) were both like fishes out of water, and Dale Steyn would be sharpening his claws. Noor Ali (11/4 at Bet365) was the one saving grace for the side as he went on to play a matured innings of 50, Asghar Stanigzai (6/1 at Blue Square) was the only other batsman who got to a 30.

One gets the sense that despite the firepower in the South African line-up, Afghanistan may not be cowed down by the South African bowling and will go for the jugular. Their cricket in the previous game bordered between rash and brave, and I cannot see them changing their game plan.

South Africa, on the other hand, will need to change their strategies. Graeme Smith (3/1 at Stan James to top-score for South Africa) needs to open, whereas Jacques Kallis (11/4 at Boylesports to be the best batsman), with all due respects to the batsman that he is, needs a mandate on when he needs to set himself for the acceleration. While South Africa may not want to change things around too much, Loots Bosman’s (4/1 at Ladbrokes) number in the batting order could be scrutinised, as would the fact that AB de Villiers (9/2 at Bet Fred) and JP Duminy (10/1 at Blue Square) are batting, far too lower down the order to gain any mileage out of them.

South Africa should be easy winners, and will probably look to the game to solve a few of the issues they faced in the previous game against India.

Tips:
Favourites: South Africa (1/25 at Sky Bet)
Top South Africa batsman: Graeme Smith (3/1 at Stan James)
Top Afghanistan batsman: Mohammad Shahzad (5/1 at Stan James)