Power Ranking the 2019 World Cup Teams

4. South Africa

South Africa v India - T20 International

Almost always going into a World Cup, South Africa are regarded as one of the favorites in the tournament. That has certainly been the case since 1999 when South Africa went out in THAT semi-final against Australia.

However, this may not be the case twenty years later in England as South Africa are a team in turmoil especially after the abrupt international retirement of their best ODI batsman (and one of the greatest ever) AB De Villers.

This has left South Africa with a rather fragile lower middle order as they have to depend on the unreliable David Miller, the inconsistent JP Duminy and a multitude of inconsistent allrounders from No.5 to No.7. This leaves South Africa vulnerable to collapses when their top order fails as was evident in their 5-1 ODI loss to India earlier this season.

Yet what gets forgotten is the fact that the Proteas still have a great ODI team. Quinton De Kock, Hashim Amla, Aiden Markaram and Faf Du Plessis form a top order only matched by Australia, England and India in the tournament. Their pace attack with Dale Steyn and Kagiso Rabada is fearsome especially since it is complemented by the wrist-spin duo of Tabriz Shamsi and Imran Tahir.

Nonetheless, South Africa’s struggles in that home series against India combined with their weak lower middle order and their tendency to struggle in major tournaments prevents them from ranking higher.