WC Opener, Eng vs SA: Head to Head and Preview
LONDON: Tipped heavily to win their maiden World Cup, England will hope to get their campaign off to a cracking start when they take on South Africa at the Oval here on Thursday. The South Africans, for a change, are not among the favourites. In a slight worry for the organizers, it was raining here on Wednesday evening. The forecast for match day, though, is only of a cloudy sky.
ICC WORLD CUP 2019: Full Schedule
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SA suffered a big blow when veteran pacer Dale Steyn was ruled out due to a shoulder injury. “Dale is a big loss to our team but we expected it. When we picked the squad, he was 60% ready, so we anticipated for this to happen. But a fit Steyn would have made our attack a strong one, so we need to make a few changes to our team for England,” confessed South African skipper Faf du Plessis.
The 35-year-old’s absence gives England, already at the top of their game, a great advantage. South Africa will now bank on their other premier pacers, like the hugely talented Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi, to stop the rampaging English opening pair of Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow.
England’s batting muscle starts from the top. In the classy Joe Root and skipper Eoin Morgan[6], they have two solid middle-order batsmen with loads of experience. Then comes the ‘superman’ of their batting — Jos Buttler. Riding on some blazing form that saw him smash quickfire hundreds against the West Indies and Pakistan, besides enjoying another prolific IPL, Buttler, if he maintains his magical touch, can be expected to be the player of the tournament.
HEAD TO HEAD
Matches: 6
England won: 3
South Africa won: 3
“They have got wicket-takers, and spinners who do well in these conditions. But their biggest asset is the fact that they are very balanced and they have got a very long batting lineup. I don’t think there are any other teams in the world where you have all your bowlers that can come in and score runs at the end. So their balance is their real strength,” praised du Plessis.
Having been the highest wicket-taker (126) since the 2015 World Cup, Rashid can hope to find a lot of success in a tournament where the pitches might dry out in the second half.
Having won 15 of their last 19 ODI series, England are now desperate to win this trophy and assert their supremacy in this format. However, it’s never wise to underestimate what the Proteas can do.
WATCH OUT FOR THE BATTLE OF LEG-SPINNERS: Adil Rashid vs Imran Tahir
Leg-spinners have been ruling the roost in limited-overs cricket of late. It is perhaps apt then that the opening clash of the World Cup will see two leggies at the top of their game pitted against each other. While South Africa have the wily old Imran Tahir assuming the mantle of lead spinner, England – for a change – are up to the task.
Adil Rashid has steadily grown in stature for England, and a World Cup in home conditions is the ideal platform for him to showcase his talent. Both of them are fairly similar in their approach, given that they rely heavily on their well-disguised googlies to outsmart batsmen. Tahir, in particular, will be high on confidence after finishing as the highest wicket-taker in the just-concluded IPL.
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References
- ^ England (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
- ^ South Africa (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
- ^ the Oval (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
- ^ ICC WORLD CUP 2019: Full Schedule (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
- ^ Faf du Plessis (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
- ^ Eoin Morgan (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
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