ICC World Cup
England v South Africa Cricket World Cup Preview: Ominous signs for England
England’s stuttering start to their ICC Cricket World Cup defence could yet take another turn for the worse when they face a frighteningly in-form South Africa on Saturday.
We preview the action below.
England v South Africa – Saturday 09:30
England can ill-afford to suffer any more hiccups in what has been a very discouraging start to their 2023 World Cup campaign, so it seems a very worrying time to play one of the best-looking teams in the tournament as they face off against South Africa in Mumbai.
England’s opening-day loss to New Zealand could have been forgiven as a bad day at the office – particularly after comfortably beating the Kiwis 3-1 just a month before – but their 69-run loss to Afghanistan has raised some seriously concerning questions about their ability in the early stages of the tournament.
The good news for England is that they lost three of their opening seven games when they won the competition in 2019, but now in unfamiliar conditions and a with such a toothless bowling attack at their disposal, it will take an almighty effort for Jos Buttler’s side to reach next month’s semi-final stage, let alone win the trophy, and their odds of 8/1 to win the tournament soberingly reflect that.
They will be buoyed by the return of Ben Stokes to the batting line up, though the man he will likely replace at number 4 – Harry Brook – was the only batsman who displayed any ounce of form or touch in their defeat last Sunday. As mentioned, it’s their bowling attack that’s experiencing issues, with Chris Woakes and Sam Curran looking very easy to play and score against.
South Africa, conversely, had been close to perfect until suffering a scarcely believable defeat to the Netherlands in their last match. Nevertheless, this is a white-ball unit that’s been threatening to gel and explode for the past couple of tournaments and finally looks close to being a finished article.
As an XI, they are probably only trumped by India in terms of ability and form, with the devastating Quinton de Kock spearheading the batting card and Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller combining to form a deadly middle order. Add two world-class left-handed spinners to a seam attack of Rabada, Jansen and Nortje and you’ve got an extremely well-equipped side that covers all bases.
England are 8/11 favourites for this one, but that price is based on reputation alone – backing South Africa at 11/10 would be a much better punt.
In terms of individual markets, de Kock leads the way as the 3/1 favourite to be the top South African run scorer having already smashed two centuries in the tournament from three games. Given their tendency to make good first wicket partnerships, Temba Bavuma’s odds of 7/2 can’t be discounted either. Over 31.5 runs for the Proteas’ first wicket at 5/6 also provides good value.
For England, Joe Root remains the 3/1 favourite to pile up the most runs after two fifties in his opening two games, though look out for the returning Ben Stokes, who shares 9/2 odds with Harry Brook – the man he’ll likely replace.
