England vs South Africa Prediction

SA Team News

Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi, who collectively bowled 13 overs in the warm-up game against Sri Lanka, seem to have regained complete fitness from their respective injuries. Dale Steyn, however, has failed to fully recover from his shoulder injury and has therefore been ruled out of the tournament opener against England. The fast bowler is also unlikely to feature in South Africa’s next match against Bangladesh which will be played at the same venue. Steyn is likely to be replaced by either Dwaine Pretorius or Chris Morris. Andile Phehlukwayo has also strengthened his case for a place in the playing eleven after his four-wicket haul against Sri Lanka. David Miller, despite his recent poor run of form, is likely to be picked ahead of the inexperienced Rassie van der Dussen.

SA Key Players

Hashim Amla's return to form will bring some relief in the South African camp. The opener has now hit successive fifties - 65 against Sri Lanka and 51* against Afghanistan - in the warm-up matches. He even has an ODI century at this ground and there is a good chance of him scoring big on this flat batting surface. Quinton de Kock and skipper Faf du Plessis are two other in-form batsmen in this line-up. Faf du Plessis scored 88 against Sri Lanka and he will be expected to play another match-winning innings. South Africa's bowling attack comprising Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi and Imran Tahir is one of the best in the world. Rabada with his searing pace will be threatening with the new ball, and in the absence of Dale Steyn, it will be mainly up to him to rattle England's top-order. Imran Tahir is fourth in the ICC ODI bowling rankings and his leg-breaks could cause a few problems for the home team during the middle period of their innings.

SA Recent Form

South Africa have eight wins from the ten one-day internationals they have played since the start of this year which shows how tough they have been to beat lately in this format of the game. After beating Pakistan 3-2 at home in January, the Proteas dominated Sri Lanka 5-0 in another home series and went into the World Cup warm-ups on the back of six successive ODI victories. South Africa thrashed Sri Lanka by 87 runs in their first warm-up match at Cardiff before their second game against the West Indies at Bristol got washed out due to incessant rain.