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World T20: England vs South Africa Group 1 Preview

Written by Maverick White for @HollywoodbetsFollow them both on Twitter and Facebook now!


England vs South Africa | Saturday 29 March | Chittagong | 15:30

Group 1 is perilously poised, this fixture having the potential to end hopes of qualification for the losing side. For the English this is a certainty, as the Proteas will book qualification with a victory while the winner of the Sri Lanka and New Zealand match will likely top the group on net run rate. This is all based on the assumption that both New Zealand and England beat the Netherlands. If England were to beat the Proteas here and all sides beat the Netherlands, South Africa will bow out of the competition while Sri Lanka and New Zealand battle for the other qualification place. It doesn’t get any more important than this and with the Proteas flagging in the batting department, the English will feel confident. They have had a torrid time in recent months and a victory here for the tournament underdogs would go a long way in reestablishing some belief within the camp. However, both sides have extensive issues that they first must address.

To Win 
England 12/10
Tie 35/1
South Africa 7/10

England
The English would’ve felt aggrieved at their loss to New Zealand, a decent showing with the bat counting for nought in the rain affected tie. Against Sri Lanka, following a shambolic fielding display in which they shelled four catches and missed a run out, only to stare at a scoreboard reading 0/2 after the first over in reply, the English players and anyone watching would’ve been forgiven for thinking that their tournament was all over. Chasing Sri Lanka’s 189/4 against the likes of Malinga, Kulasekara and Senanayake is a tough prospect at the best of times. Losing Lumb and Moeen Ali in the first over was tantamount to capitulation. Incredibly, Eoin Morgan walked to the crease and put pay to his poor form, giving Alex Hales the self-belief to forge ahead. England were staring down the barrel of a required run-rate of twelve per over for the majority of the chase, yet when the 152-run partnership between Morgan and Hales was finally broken in the seventeenth over, Bopara and Hales wouldn’t be denied. Hales’ 116 from 64 balls was the first T20 international hundred by an English player, comprising the bulk of England’s highest ever T20 run chase. Alex Hales was formerly the number one T20 batsman in the world. He now sits at number three on that list and with Eoin Morgan’s affinity for scoring runs against the Proteas, South Africa will be wary.

South Africa
Dale Steyn and Imran Tahir are winning games for the Proteas at the moment. The last two have come down to the wire, shutting out New Zealand in Steyn’s final over and bowling out the Netherlands from the brink of defeat. The pair have shared twelve wickets between them over the past two matches, neither conceding more than seven to the over. Indeed, Steyn hasn’t gone for more than 4.75 per over in either of those fixtures, underlining his importance in the Proteas setup. However, the Proteas’ victory over the Netherlands was narrow; a mere six runs. South African coach Russell Domingo blames poor decision making, and there have been many. Faf du Plessis has really done himself no favours if he harbours ambitions of securing the vacant Test captaincy.

There have been issues in the batting order, particularly in its make-up, though the reason for this confusion escapes me. It seems simple. Quinton de Kock provides impetus at the top of the order with Amla as the anchor. Faf du Plessis is captain, if he wants to bat three and have as much time out in the middle as possible, then he should be allowed to do so. De Villiers has always been a number four, even in the T20 format. Discussions of him moving up the order are strange. Duminy plays five; he scored runs there against New Zealand didn’t he? He’s a great finisher, there is no need for him to bat three. Then comes Miller and Albie Morkel to supposedly hit sixes. So what’s the problem? It’s that Faf du Plessis has failed to pass thirty in his past six innings, AB de Villiers in his past nine. A middle-order that looks solid, is actually very brittle. The second issue is that not one South African player occupies a spot in the Top Ten of the ICC T20 rankings. Not one. To expect the Proteas to progress far in a format where individual brilliance can often be the difference between two sides, ala Alex Hales, is an exercise in futility.

Venue
Chittagong has slowed up since the start of the tournament, but still offers runs to batsmen who are prepared to work when the pace is taken off the ball. Par score has been set at about 170 and is defendable, but the side batting first will only feel safe with around 190 on the board. It doesn’t look like there will be any weather interruptions.

BEST BET: Top England Batsman, Eoin Morgan 4/1
The explosive middle-order batsmen loves thwarting the Proteas and with his half century against Sri Lanka in the chase, showed he was back to his best form. Never one to shy away from a challenge, expect Morgan to go after the likes of Steyn and Tahir. The price is right, get on.

VERDICT: England 12/10
Despite England’s obvious inadequacies in the field, they haven’t played all that badly in the tournament so far. Their batting has fired as a unit and if they can hold their catches, something they will no doubt be working on, they should be able to secure victory against an undercooked South African side. Back the outsider here.

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