The action will continue in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 as England and South Africa will take on each other today at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.
Both teams are coming into the fixture having faced an embarrassing loss in their respective last games. South Africa lost against the Netherlands by 38 runs in Dharamsala as they failed to chase down the target of 246.
Despite their loss, they have a good net run rate of +1.385 courtesy of their massive wins in the first two games against Sri Lanka and Australia. The Temba Bavuma-led side are on the third spot on the points table with two wins from three matches having four points to their name.
On the other hand, England lost their previous fixture against Afghanistan by 69 runs in Delhi as they failed to chase down 285. The defending champions haven’t had a memorable tournament so far as they’ve only won one out of the first three matches.
They began their campaign with a nine-wicket hammering by New Zealand in Ahmedabad but later won the second fixture against Bangladesh by 137 runs. The Jos Buttler-led side are ranked on the fifth spot on the points table having two points to their name with a net run rate of -0.084.
In the last five matches played at the venue, four have been won by teams batting second. The average first innings score in the same time period has been 276 while the highest target chased is 281. The pitch has been great for batting in recent times and hence big scores are expected during the game. Captain winning the toss will look to bowl first keeping the past records of the venue in mind.
Having lost two out of their first three matches, England would hope for the return of their star all-rounder Ben Stokes.
Stokes was a big miss for England in the first two matches and will look to bring his side back on the winning track. South Africa will also be eager to return to the winning track after a surprise loss against Afghanistan. They're likely to field the same playing combination which earned them massive victories in the first two games.
Predicted XI, England Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (C/WK), Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood, Reece Topley, Gus Atkinson.
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, Lungi Ngidi, Gerald Coetzee.