Both groups on the ropes forward of heavyweight contest

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Hello darkness, my previous buddy. I’m coming to speak with one in every of you once more. But which one will it’s?

Will it’s England, the reigning world champions throughout 50- and 20-overs, whose quest for a 3rd world title in 4 years is at risk of dissolving in a bisque of self-doubt? Instead of cementing a legacy to rival the nice Australian staff of the flip of the millennium, their humiliating losses to New Zealand and Afghanistan are threatening to forged England’s narrative again into their World Cup darkish ages of the Nineteen Nineties and 2000s, to make that 2015-19 resurgence appear extra like a mirage than a miracle.

Or will it’s South Africa… the calmest, most serene pressure within the competitors for 2 heady performances, as a staff seemingly with out baggage cruised previous Australia and Sri Lanka with scarcely a backwards look, to offer the impression that this… lastly… may very well be their 12 months.

It maybe should not have come as a whole shock {that a} staff that noticed off three Test nations at a savage qualifying event in Zimbabwe this summer season ought to have arrived in India with their aggressive juices pumping – they’re arguably higher prepped for the maelstrom than lots of the extra favoured groups, England amongst them. The bother is, the catastrophisation of South Africa’s World Cup setbacks will stay on a unique scale till such time because the staff can shrug off their 31-year hoodoo.

And so, despite the fact that a follow-up defeat to the world champions on Saturday wouldn’t finish South Africa’s hopes of progressing to the knockouts – a 3rd England loss can be vastly extra damaging to their very own prospects – it will torch the narrative that had prevailed within the first two weeks. No extra speak of quiet confidence and flights beneath the radar for Temba Bavuma’s staff, as a substitute the stampede for the event post-mortems would start.

Chris Woakes and Sam Curran have been notably underwhelming, which has had knock-on results for the affect that Mark Wood and Adil Rashid have been capable of make within the center overs. And whereas Reece Topley was immense within the victory over Bangladesh, the lack of Jofra Archer and the failure to seek out an sufficient alternative for Liam Plunkett leaves England considerably wanting the menace they carried within the 2019 marketing campaign – and even then, they had been vulnerable to some profligate shows, secure within the data that no matter they leaked with the ball, their batters had been greater than able to matching.

That certainty not applies. And the fragility is palpable, even to a South Africa staff that is aware of a factor or two about vulnerability.

Whatever occurs, it guarantees to be a memorable day of England-South Africa sporting motion, with the Rugby World Cup semi-final going down in Paris quickly after the shut of play. In a pre-match message from the Springboks camp, Siya Kolisi, South Africa’s World Cup-winning captain, acknowledged his “belief” and “trust” in his cricketing counterparts, whereas describing the Netherlands defeat as a “hiccup”. If they fail to make it proper on the first try, nonetheless, there isn’t any doubt which respiratory malfunction might be on everybody else’s lips.

Form information

England LWLWW (final 5 ODIs, most up-to-date first)
South Africa LWWWW

In the highlight: Ben Stokes and Quinton de Kock

Team news

Much to ponder for England as they put together to welcome Stokes again to the fold. His worth as a pure batter is indeniable, however his absence as a bowler threatens the depth and steadiness that has been such an element within the staff’s white-ball success. Harry Brook was the person who benefited from Stokes’ hip damage, however as one of many few successes of a dismal show in opposition to Afghanistan, jettisoning him now would appear counterproductive. Instead, it appears the fall-guy might be Liam Livingstone, whose allsorts spin was a prized asset in the identical sport, however whose batting has been worryingly off-the-boil for a number of months now. Further issues are stacking up within the middle-order, the place Woakes and Curran had been spanked for a mixed 87 runs in eight overs by Rahmanullah Gurbaz and co. Neither has contributed sufficient with the bat both, and there’s a chance that Gus Atkinson will make a World Cup debut instead of Woakes, with David Willey – the self-styled “donkey” of England’s assault – in line to switch Curran as a extra heavy-duty left-arm possibility.

England: 1 Jonny Bairstow, 2 Dawid Malan, 3 Joe Root, 4 Ben Stokes, 5 Jos Buttler (capt/wk), 6 Harry Brook, 7 Chris Woakes/Gus Atkinson, 8 David Willey, 9 Adil Rashid, 10 Mark Wood, 11 Reece Topley

Of the 2 upsets in final week’s spherical of video games, South Africa’s in all probability edged it by way of shock worth, however – regardless of the inevitable hacking sounds from the again of the category – it is also extra simply written off as a nasty day on the workplace. Certainly the staff that had pounded its strategy to the highest of the standings with two assertion wins over Australia and Sri Lanka appeared balanced, composed and dripping with menace in each side, from de Kock’s back-to-back lots of on the high of the order, to the ability and finesse of a thrillingly various middle-order, and on by way of to a bowling assault wherein Lungi Ngidi, Marco Jansen and Kagiso Rabada might hardly be extra complementary as a trio of frontline seamers. In defiance of South Africa’s default setting on the first signal of World Cup adversity, “don’t panic!” is unquestionably the message {that a} broadly unchanged XI will search to ship out. The solely actual choice name is Tabraiz Shamsi versus Gerald Coetzee, however the additional seamer in Coetzee appears the likelier route.

South Africa (possible): 1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 Temba Bavuma (capt), 3 Rassie van der Dussen, 4 Aiden Markram, 5 David Miller, 6 Heinrich Klaasen, 7 Marco Jansen, 8 Kagiso Rabada, 9 Keshav Maharaj, 10 Lungi Ngidi, 11 Tabraiz Shamsi/Gerald Coetzee

Pitch and situations: Runs in prospect

Mumbai’s needed to wait two weeks to get into the World Cup spirit, however the first monitor of the event will certainly provide runs in abundance. There is a few patchy reside grass on the strip and it seems to be maybe slightly dry, nevertheless it proved an absolute street within the IPL this 12 months, with a mean whole throughout seven video games of 196, together with three profitable chases of 200-plus. After escaping Dharamsala unscathed (no less than by way of personnel), each groups could look barely askance at one other less-than-ideal outfield, with a number of divots in proof as a consequence of fielding drills.

Stats and trivia

Quotes

“He’s been a fantastic performer for an incredibly long time for England in all formats and especially in one-day cricket. And we’re all honest guys, right? He’s not performing quite how he would like to at the minute, and that’s frustrating, but there’s no judgment from our side. We always back all our players that are in our team, they’re high-class players and he’s certainly one of those.”
Jos Buttler backs Chris Woakes to come back good regardless of his tough begin to the event

“Growing up idolising a guy like Sachin [Tendulkar], the Wankhede was a stadium you always heard about. It’s another tick off my list as a cricketer. JP [Duminy], and Quinny have spoken about how it has been a batters’ paradise. If it is your day, you can fill your boots, and with it being a full ground, there is really something to enjoy.”
South Africa’s captain Temba Bavuma, whose childhood nickname was “Sachin”