Buffalo Park East London pitch report: SA vs WI 1st ODI pitch report of East London Stadium

South Africa will take on West Indies in the first ODI of the three-match series at Buffalo Park in East London. After winning the Test series, the hosts would want to dominate their authority in the ODI series as well. It will be interesting to see the nature of Buffalo Park’s pitch.

Batter David Miller and bowler Kagiso Rabada are not available for the home side, and they will be a big miss. South African batter Rassie van der Dussen has been very impressive in the home ODIs, and he will play a major role in batting alongside wicket-keeper Quinton de Kock.

West Indies will be led by their new ODI captain Shai Hope in this series, and he would want to start his tenure with a win. Apart from Hope, the batting duo of Rovman Powell and Brandon King is going to be important for the side. Jason Holder is the leading all-rounder of the side.

Buffalo Park East London pitch report

The Buffalo Park in East London is hosting an ODI match after a gap of more than five years. South Africa last played against Bangladesh in 2017, where the hosts won by a huge margin of 200 runs. This track has produced some high-scoring innings, but overall it has not been a great track to bat on.

The average first-innings ODI score at this ground is just 226 runs, and the pacers have enjoyed bowling on this track. Imran Tahir has been one spinner who has been really successful here, the middle overs can be dominated by the spinners. The batters would want to settle themselves first before getting aggressive.

The outfield of this ground is fast, whereas the boundaries are not that huge as well which will favour the batters. Out of the last five ODI matches played here, three of them are won by the chasing teams. Both captains may opt to chase upon winning the toss.