Overview:
Its England vs South Africa, both the sides are coming fresh from their respective upsets and against whom - Afghanistan and Netherlands, who remained winless in their respective last World Cups. Both the sides would like to bounce back this match to overcome from the last match loss.
England: The Defending Champions have not been up to the mark this Edition having lost 2 of their 3 matches with their only win coming against Bangladesh. They would be hoping for Stokes return, which would make their batting much more reliable and give a bowling option too.
South Africa: Despite of their loss against Netherlands, they are in much better position as they have already 2 wins, that too against 2 good sides - Sri Lanka and Australia. Their skipper's form is a concern for them as he failed to have any impact with the bat so far. His opening partner, de Kock's 2 Centuries concealed his poor returns but it’s time for the captain to step up and make an important contribution
Probable XI:
England: Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler (c)(wk), Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Temba Bavuma (c), Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Gerald Coetzee, Lungi Ngidi
Interesting Facts and Stats
H2H Record: In the 7 World Cup Encounters, the rivalry is equally balanced with England having slight edge 4:3 in 7 matches. However, South Africa holds the edge in Overall ODI Clashes with 33 wins over 30 loses against England
England (49) needs 1 more win to complete 50 World Cup Wins. So far, Australia, New Zealand and India have reached the milestone.
Joe Root Needs 72 Runs to complete 1000 World Cup Runs.
Quinton De Kock needs just 18 Runs to complete 12000 International Runs and become just 7th South African Batsman to reach the milestone after Kallis, De Villiers, Amla, Smith, Gibbs and Kirsten.
After a splendid 2023 with the Bat until the World Cup scoring 637 Runs at 79.62 and Strike Rate of 104.08, Temba Bavuma has failed to carry the form in the World Cup as he scored just 8, 35 and 16 in the 3 games South Africa has played so far.
The last time when the World Cup was played in India (2011), these 2 were only sides whom India, World Cup 2011 Champions, couldn’t beat.
Match Details:
Date: 21st October 2023
Time: 02:00 PM Local Time (8:30 AM GMT)
Venue: Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
Pitch and Weather Report:
Wankhede is hosting its first match of the Edition. Known for its short boundaries, batting will be very easy on the surface. The team batting first should be aiming for at least 350. Pacers may get some support with the new ball but as the innings progresses, spinners could get some purchase.
Bowling first would be the preferred choice for the toss winning team as any score is not safe here.
Dream XI:
