England will face South Africa today in a crucial match of the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024 Super 8 at the Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium, Gros Islet, St Lucia.
Both teams have one win each in the Super 8 round after claiming victories in their opening matches. England beat the West Indies comfortably while South Africa also got over the line despite being pushed by the United States.
Today’s match is important for both teams since the winner will have one foot in the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup.
Both teams have good bowling attacks but the explosive nature of their batting could overshadow the bowlers today.
"It's been a really topsy-turvy start. It didn't really feel like we played much cricket up to this point. But, in tournament cricket, you need a bit of confidence and momentum at the right time and you need it to keep building. So to get a win against the hosts gives us the first push in that direction," England’s Phil Salt said after their win over West Indies on Wednesday.
Match time
PST: 7:30 PM
GMT: 02:30 PM
Local: 10:30 AM
Likely lineups
England: 1 Phil Salt, 2 Jos Buttler (capt, wk), 3 Moeen Ali, 4 Jonny Bairstow, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Liam Livingstone, 7 Sam Curran, 8 Jofra Archer, 9 Adil Rashid, 10 Mark Wood / Chris Jordan, 11 Reece Topley
South Africa: 1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 Reeza Hendricks, 3 Aiden Markam, 4 Tristan Stubbs, 5 Heinrich Klaasen (wk), 6 David Miller, 7 Marco Jansen, 8 Keshav Maharaj, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 Tabraiz Shamsi/Ottneil Baartman, 11 Anrich Nortje
Prediction
England’s comfortable win over the Windies was a morale-booster for the defending champions which puts them in a good place against the Proteas. South Africa have been pushed by all the teams they have faced in the tournament so far despite remaining unbeaten but they could face their first loss today.
