Match 20 of 48 in the 2023 Cricket World Cup will be a clash of the heavyweights, with England taking on South Africa at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday morning.
England have made a very shaky start to their 2023 CWC campaign and are currently outside the top four, while South Africa are in third but come into this match off the back of arguably the biggest upset of the competition to date.
Match preview
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It is a big day for both these countries, who will not only be competing here in the Cricket World Cup but will also square off in the blockbuster 2023 Rugby World Cup semi-final later in the day at Stade de France.
In the opening match of this tournament, England faced New Zealand, and in a rematch of the 2019 World Cup final, the Blackcaps secured a nine-wicket victory with centuries from Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra, shooting down England's hopes of a successful start.
The Poms' sole victory in the tournament came against Bangladesh, as Dawid Malan's 140-run innings contributed to a very defendable target of 365, while Reece Topley's four-wicket haul took his side to a 137-run victory and their first points of the tournament.
Facing Afghanistan, England struggled against the spinners, losing eight wickets in 25 overs and scoring only 104 runs during that period, with Harry Brook's half-century being the only notable contribution, but it was still not enough to prevent a shocking 69-run loss.
While England's batting has been the cornerstone of their white-ball success over the past 18 months, it has struggled to perform in this competition, and they will need a swift return to form for the top order to avoid facing an early exit from the tournament.
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South Africa got their ICC Cricket World Cup campaign going with a big victory over Sri Lanka, as Quinton de Kock, Aiden Markram, and Rassie van der Dussen each notched centuries for the Proteas in the match.
Facing a record target of 429, the highest in ICC World Cup history, Sri Lanka's pursuit was thwarted by three wickets from Gerald Coetzee, leading to South Africa's victory by 102 runs.
After another dominant performance in their second match against Australia, we saw probably the biggest upset of the World Cup so far when the Netherlands stunned South Africa by winning by 38 runs in Dharamshala, which brought back unwanted memories for the Proteas of the 2022 ICC T20I World Cup where the Dutch side prevented them from reaching the semi-finals.
Still, their performances in their first two matches were enough to suggest that a bounce back to normality can be expected here, but as we know, on the biggest stage of them all, nothing can be taken for granted.
In ODIs, England and South Africa have faced each other 69 times, with the Proteas winning 33 matches and England emerging victorious in 30, while five matches ended in no contest, and they also played out one draw.
Team News
Having lacked their usual power-hitting in the middle order, England fans will be looking forward to the possibility of the Test captain Ben Stokes returning to the starting 11 in this match.
If Stokes is to return to the lineup, that could mean that Chris Woakes, who has been fairly disappointing up to this stage, will be the one to make way for the 2019 CWC hero.
South Africa is expected to maintain the same player combination following the upset against the Netherlands, with Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen leading the bowling attack alongside Lungi Ngidi.
Considering the Wankhede Stadium is favourable to spinners, South Africa may be tempted to recall Tabraiz Shamsi to the starting 11 to back up Keshav Maharaj, who has arguably been the pick of the Proteas bowlers so far.
England squad: Jos Buttler (c), Moeen Ali, Gus Atkinson, Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes, Reece Topley, David Willey, Mark Wood, Chris Woakes
South Africa squad: Temba Bavuma (c), Gerald Coetzee, Quinton de Kock, Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Andile Phehlukwayo, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Rassie van der Dussen, Lizaad Williams
Series so far
England
Match One: England lost by 9 wickets
England - 282/9 (50
New Zealand - 283/1 (36.2)
Match Two: England won by 137 runs
England - 364/9 (50
Bangladesh - 227 (48.2)
Match Three: England lost by 69 runs
Afghanistan - 284 (49.5)
England - 215 (40.3)
South Africa
Match One: South Africa won by 102 runs
South Africa - 428/5 (50)
Sri Lanka - 326 (44.5)
Match Two: South Africa won by 134 runs
South Africa - 321/6 (50)
Australia - 177 (40.5)
Match Three: South Africa lost by 38 runs
Netherlands - 245/8 (43)
South Africa - 201 (42.5/43)
We say: South Africa to win
While England's batting could click back into gear here, especially with the possible return of Stokes, the greater issue they face is with the ball in hand, with none of their bowlers looking particularly likely to dominate opposing batting lineups. South Africa's top order looked in good nick prior to their last match, and we could see another big score here unless the England bowlers can make early inroads.
Devesh Jaganath
