South Africa are set to battle against England in match No. 20 of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 on Saturday, October 21 at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. While the two teams take each other on the playing field, the fantasy cricket managers have a chance to pick their favourite players and form their teams. The performance of the players on the field will translate to points for each fantasy team picked, and the manager with the team with the most points stands a chance to win attractive prizes.
England, the defending champions, are off to a poor start in the World Cup. With two defeats in their opening three matches, they have put themselves in a difficult situation ahead of a big match like this. Another defeat could put a dent on their title ambitions, making it all the more important.
South Africa, meanwhile, picked up two impressive wins by huge margins against Sri Lanka and Australia. However, a poor display in the death overs saw them concede momentum to the Netherlands and eventually, ended up losing by 38 runs.
England and South Africa have a very close head-to-head record, with the Proteas having a slender lead. In 69 ODI meetings between the sides, South Africa have won 33, while England have won 30.
Predicted playing XI
England: Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler (c & wk), Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood, Reece Topley
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Temba Bavuma (c), Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi, Gerald Coetzee
Weather conditions and pitch report
The weather conditions in Mumbai will be cloudy on Saturday. The temperatures, however, will remain slightly on the higher side, ranging from 27-35 degrees. Although the average first innings score here is 234, Wankhede is a batter’s paradise and we can expect a lot of runs in this contest.
ENG vs SA fantasy XI
Wicket-keepers: Quinton de Kock, Jos Buttler, Heinrich Klaasen
Batters: Joe Root, Dawid Malan, Rassie van der Dussen
All-rounders: Marco Jansen, Aiden Markram
Bowlers: Adil Rashid, Kagiso Rabada, Mark Wood
There’s great individual talent on both sides, but with South Africa being the in-form team, we have gone with six of their players.
Quinton de Kock and Jos Buttler are capable of producing big knocks on their day and both can be considered for captaincy as well. Despite not getting any big scores in the tournament, Heinrich Klaasen is a worthy addition.
Joe Root has scored two fifties in the tournament so far and Dawid Malan is high on confidence as well, courtesy of a century against Bangladesh. Rassie van der Dussen too has scored a century in the tournament and is in great touch.
Aiden Markram is lethal with the bat and can contribute some crucial wickets with his off-spin. Marco Jansen has picked up six wickets in the tournament so far and adds depth to their batting as well.
Adil Rashid’s experience of bowling on flat tracks makes him an obvious pick, alongside Kagiso Rabada, who has picked up seven wickets so far.
Captain: Quinton de Kock
Quinton de Kock is the only player with two centuries in the ongoing World Cup so far. He is in the form of his life and scored runs on a tricky pitch against Australia as well. He will cherish playing in the batting-friendly conditions at Wankhede and is a top choice for captaincy.
Vice-captain: Joe Root
Joe Root has been consistently getting big scores and despite getting dismissed early against Afghanistan in the last match, he is in great form. He is a good contender for captaincy or vice-captaincy.
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