On the surface, this is a meeting of equals. Since the last ICC World Twenty20 2014, South Africa has put together a 10-8 win-loss record, while England stands at 5-4, with Chris Gayle’s six-hitting exploits having swelled the losses column on Wednesday (March 16) night. Scratch a little beneath the surface though, and South Africa should start as warm favourite for their clash in Mumbai on Friday. South Africa leads the head-to-head rivalry 7-3, and previous match-ups at the World Twenty20 have gone 3-1 in its favour. It also won the two most recent matches, a month ago on home turf.
The nature of this tournament leaves England with little room for error. Another loss would leave it on the brink and reignite the debate about its struggles in the shorter formats. Faf du Plessis, South Africa’s captain, wasn’t taking anything for granted though.
“Obviously, when you are playing a team, you are hoping they are not that confident,” he said. “But in a World Cup, there is also a possibility that if you don’t rock up on a day, any team can beat you. It’s been proven so many times.
“Having said that, we go into tomorrow’s game with the confidence of having beaten them in South Africa. But we do know tomorrow is going to be a completely different game. We are hoping to put England under pressure and hoping that they fall back into the mentality that they are not confident of winning the game. You give them a sniff, they can bounce back.”
Given the destruction that Gayle has wrought around the world, the defeat against the West Indies is unlikely to see England make any drastic changes to the side. Reese Topley was its most impressive bowler in the recent games in South Africa, while David Willey can swing it early on. But if Liam Plunkett is to be included, one of them will make way.
Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali are safe as well. It’s easy to forget that Moeen had gone for just 20 in the first 21 balls he bowled. The three biffs down to the sightscreen that followed just obliterated what had gone before.
It’s with the bat that England will need to rethink its strategies a touch. You couldn’t find much fault with the way the top six batted, but the sudden acceleration that Gayle so effortlessly gave the West Indies was missing.
“Those two guys (Jason Roy and Alex Hales) who have been so consistent in getting us off to good starts, I think we’d probably say when they catch fire, they could put on even more in those first six [overs],” said Jos Buttler, whose own contribution was 30 from 20 balls. “And then again at the end, we finished the innings well. Myself or someone else could have had a couple of really big overs, and instead of a 30, make it a 60 and take us up to that 200 score, which would have given us a good chance.”
On a ground where South Africa piled up 438 in an ODI against India last November, one that du Plessis reckoned was the most similar to South African venues, the side is spoilt for choice when it comes to both batting and bowling. Hashim Amla made an unbeaten 97 off 62 balls in the last Twenty20 it played, but it was AB de Villiers and Quinton de Kock that opened in the two matches before that. David Miller and JP Duminy lie in wait lower down the order, while Chris Morris can be a match-winner with bat or ball.
Dale Steyn is back, with the exciting Kagiso Rabada and Kyle Abbott also providing quick options. Imran Tahir’s legspin has fetched him 37 wickets in just 23 T20 Internationals, while Duminy has plenty of experience of staunching the run flow in these conditions.
For England, who was crushed by the Gayle juggernaut, the challenge is to keep de Villiers and friends quiet. "De Villiers has much more range of shots, but Gayle has that power and he doesn't really need to try anything else,” said Buttler when asked to contrast two of the giants of the game. “They're good players and that's what you get when you turn up at world tournaments – all the best players in the world in one place.
“It's a great eye-opener for fans to see these guys perform at one time, and we've got to have guys who stand up and compete with them. We need to produce these players in our side as well if we're going to go further and win these tournaments.”
When it won the trophy in 2010, England started with a loss to the West Indies. After a no-result against Ireland, it won five on the trot to win the tournament. If a similar sort of streak is to be put together in India, Buttler and colleagues will need to find the 10% that was missing against the West Indies. For South Africa, who seems to have most bases covered, it’s once again a question of not letting past disappointments get to it.
Teams :
England: Jason Roy, Alex Hales, Joe Root, Jos Buttler (wk), Eoin Morgan (capt), Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid, Chris Jordan, David Willey, Reese Topley, Liam Plunkett, Sam Billings, Liam Dawson, James Vince.
South Africa: Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock (wk), Faf du Plessis (capt), AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, David Miller, Chris Morris, David Wiese, Dale Steyn, Kagiso Rabada, Imran Tahir, Kyle Abbott, Aaron Phangiso, Farhaan Behardien, Rilee Rossouw.
source:icc-cricket
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