South Africa vs England 1st ODI Match Prediction
World champions England return to ODI cricket for the first time since their World Cup triumph last year, against the team whom they beat to kick-start what proved to be a successful tournament on home soil, South Africa. The first match of this three-game ODI series takes place at Newlands, Cape Town, on February 4 and the live action starts at 13:00 local time.
England beat South Africa in their first match of the World Cup and went on to lift the trophy but the ODI squad for this leg of the tour is a mixed one – Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler and Mark Wood all being rested and Jofra Archer missing out injured.
South Africa sit fourth in the world rankings, meanwhile, and will be keen to bounce back from their test defeat. They too have a mixed squad – some of the players who finished seventh at the World Cup are retained, but new captain Quinton de Kock leads a team which also features several new faces.
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Toss Prediction
England won the toss in all four test matches so it is surely South Africa’s turn this time and it may be a match to set a target and bowl second.
Weather Report
A cloudy, humid day in Cape Town awaits – there is likely to be no rain but the dew will be a factor to consider in the second innings.
Pitch Condition
Newlands turns more than any other South African wicket, but it is still a pitch on which good batting will be rewarded.
Read on for team previews, betting tips, latest odds and match prediction for South Africa vs England 1st ODI.
South Africa Team News & Playing 11
SA Team News
With Faf du Plessis and Kagiso Rabada rested, there could be up to four debutants in the South African team – led by Quinton de Kock – with Lutho Sipamla, Bjorn Fortuin, Janneman Malan and Kyle Verreynne all in the squad. A fifth new face, Sisanda Magala, has been ruled out injured, but Lungi Ngidi is back after missing the test series.
SA Key Players
Quinton de Kock: Scored three half-centuries in nine matches at the World Cup and the stand-in captain, who is effectively auditioning for the role full-time, needs to lead from the front as he bids to build on an ODI average of 45.01. He needs 93 more runs for 5,000 in ODI cricket.
Rassie van der Dussen: Has scored seven half-centuries in his first 14 ODIs, and comes into this game on the back of scoring 98 in his final innings of the test series and 65 in his only domestic List A action in between.
Lungi Ngidi: Proved his fitness by taking 3-40 for Titans against the Lions in domestic action last week. In ODI cricket, he has 41 wickets in his 22 appearances so far.
SA Team Form
This is South Africa’s first ODI series since their World Cup disappointment, where they fell well short of expectations. Defeat in their first match to England set the tone, and they won just one of their first seven matches before at least finishing on a high – beating Sri Lanka by nine wickets and then posting 325/6 in a ten-run win against Australia. Faf du Plessis (100), Rassie van der Dussen (95) and Quinton de Kock (52) all starred with the bat in that most recent match.
South Africa Predicted Playing 11
Quinton de Kock (c,wk), Reeza Hendricks, Temba Bavuma, Rassie van der Dussen, David Miller, JJ Smuts, Andile Phehlukwayo, Lungi Ngidi, Beuran Hendricks, Bjorn Fortuin, Tabraiz Shamsi
England Team News & Playing 11
ENG Team News
Jofra Archer has been ruled out injured for England, while Mark Wood, Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler are all rested for this leg of the tour. Tom Banton could be in line to make his ODI debut, while Chris Jordan and Sam Curran are back in the 50-over squad too. Matt Parkinson is another potential debutant.
ENG Key Players
Ben Stokes: Fulfilling his potential as one of the world’s finest multi-format cricketers, he scored his ninth ODI century last time out and he now has 288 runs and six wickets in the series. He passed 4,000 ODI runs last time out and he maintains a perfect all-rounder’s ratio with his ODI averages.
Ollie Pope: Starred with the bat last time out to announce his potential for England, hitting his maiden ODI century (135*) to follow-up his unbeaten half-century in the previous ODI.
Stuart Broad: Leads England’s wicket-taking charts, though only he and Sam Curran have bowled in every innings so far. Nevertheless, he has 12 wickets at an average of 18.25 and has now moved to 483 wickets in ODI cricket.
ENG Team Form
England lost against New Zealand in their mini-series before this one, and lost the opening ODI too as their poor away form continued. That changed with victory in the second ODI, however – Dom Sibley’s second-innings century turning the game on its head before Quinton de Kock’s poor shot sparked a batting collapse in which Ben Stokes took three wickets and England sealed a 189-run win.
Stokes then hit 120 and shared a 203-run partnership with Ollie Pope (135*) as England posted 499/9 declared last time out. In reply, Dom Bess’ maiden ODI five-wicket haul helped bowl South Africa out for 209 in the first innings, and Joe Root was the surprise bowling hero with four wickets as they dismissed the Proteas for 237 following-on; England won by an innings and 53 runs.
England Predicted Playing 11
Jonny Bairstow (wk), Jason Roy, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan (c), Joe Denly, Tom Banton, Moeen Ali, Tom Curran, Chris Jordan, Chris Woakes, Matt Parkinson
South Africa vs England Head to Head
England’s win in the opening game of the World Cup last year was their 27th against South Africa in ODI cricket, in their 60th meeting in the format. South Africa still lead the way with 29 wins. Jason Roy, Joe Root and Eoin Morgan all hit half-centuries in that game before Ben Stokes’ 89 from 79 balls lifted England to 311/8 – Lungi Ngidi claiming three of the wickets to fall. In reply, Quinton de Kick and Rassie van der Dussen both scored half-centuries but Jofra Archers’ 3-27 helped bowl them out for 207.
SA vs ENG Head to Head Stats
| Matches Played |
SA Won |
ENG Won |
Tie |
No Result |
| 60 |
29 |
27 |
1 |
3 |
South Africa vs England Betting Odds
World champions England are favourites to open the series with a win.
SA Bet365 Odds
- SA to Win the Match: South Africa can be backed at 2.37 to win with Bet365.
- SA Top Batsman: Quinton de Kock leads the way for South Africa and he is 3.25 to be their top team batsman with Bet365. Rassie van der Dussen is 5.00, while De Kock’s potential opening partners, Reeza Hendricks and Janneman Malan, are also both 5.00 with Bet365.
- SA Top Bowler: Lungi Ngidi will lead the South African pace attack, and he is 4.00 to be the Proteas’ top team bowler with Bet365, as is spinner Tabraiz Shamsi. Beuran Hendricks and Lutho Sipamla are both 4.50, while Bjorn Fortuin is 5.00.
ENG Bet365 Odds
- ENG to Win the Match: England are 1.57 favourites to beat South Africa with Bet365.
- ENG Top Batsman: Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root were in excellent form in the warm-up match and are both 4.33 to be England’s top team batsman, as is Jason Roy who should slot in alongside Bairstow at the top of the order. Bet365 are offering 5.00 on Tom Banton ahead of his expected ODI debut and Eoin Morgan can be backed at 5.50.
- ENG Top Bowler: On the bowling front, both Curran brothers, Tom and Sam, are listed at 4.33 with Bet365 to be England’s top team bowler and Adil Rashid is the same price. Chris Woakes is 4.50, Chris Jordan is 5.00 and Matt Parkinson is 6.00.
SA Bet365 Odds
- SA to Win the Match: South Africa are 2.40 outsiders to win with Betway.
- SA Top Batsman: Quinton de Kock is 3.25 to be South Africa’s top batsman with Betway and Rassie van der Dussen is next on the list at 4.33. Janneman Malan and Reeza Hendricks can both be backed at 4.50 with Betway and David Miller is 5.50.
- SA Top Bowler: Lungi Ngidi is 3.75 to be South Africa’s top team bowler with Betway, while Tabraiz Shamsi is 4.33 and Beuran Hendricks and Lutho Sipamla are available to back at 5.00 each.
ENG Bet365 Odds
- ENG to Win the Match: England are 1.50 to win the opening game of the series in Cape Town with Betway.
- ENG Top Batsman: Joe Root is a Betway favourite and he is 4.00 to be England’s top team batsman. Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow are both 4.33, while captain Eoin Morgan can be backed at 5.00 with Betway.
- ENG Top Bowler: Adil Rashid is 3.75 favourite to be England’s top team bowler with Betway, while Tom Curran is 4.00. Chris Woakes can be backed at 4.33 and Chris Jordan is 4.50.
🏆 South Africa vs England Prediction
World champions England have retained the batting core of their World Cup winning team and, even without superstar Ben Stokes, they can get this series off to a winning start too.
Feb 04, 2020
16:30 IST / 11:00 GMT
Newlands - Cape town, South Africa
SA vs ENG ODI 
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