The 45th match of the 2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup will witness the England cricket team locking horns with the South African team. The highly anticipated game of cricket will be played at the Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium in Gros Islet, St Lucia, on Friday at 8 pm IST.
Following a roller-coaster ride in the league round of the T20 Championship, the Englishmen made a stunning start to the Super 8 stage as they scored a victory against the West Indies. The team looks in good spirits with all the players flaunting excellent form. They would be now hoping to capitalize on the momentum and make it two in a row in the Super 8 round.
As far as the South African cricket team is concerned, they are formidable in the T20 World Cup 2024 having won all their league games and the Super 8 matches so far. The Proteas bowlers dominated throughout the league round while their first Super 8 game saw the batters showcasing their mettle.
What has happened so far?
South Africa occupies second place in the Super 8 Group 2 points table. The team defeated the likes of Sri Lanka, the Netherlands, Bangladesh, and Nepal by six wickets, four wickets, four runs, and one run respectively, during the league round to qualify for the Super 8. Meanwhile, their first Super 8 match saw them locking horns with the United States of America and scoring a win by 18 runs.
It was an exemplary batting performance by Aiden Markram’s team as, in the first innings, they racked up a score of 194 runs in the allotted 20 overs. The opening batter Quinton de Kock led from the front as he hammered 74 runs off just 40 balls. Chasing the total, the USA ended up with only 176 runs as Kagiso Rabada picked up three wickets.
Speaking of the England cricket team, despite losing only one game during the league round against Australia by 36 runs, the team had to go through a rollercoaster ride to qualify for the next round in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024.
However, they have picked up the momentum in the Super 8 right from the beginning as Englishmen thrashed West Indies by eight wickets. Phil Salt emerged as the top performer for his side as he smacked not out 87 runs to help his team chase 181 runs within 17.3 overs.
Head to Head Record
The Friday encounter would be the 26th time the England cricket team would be squaring off against the South African side. The two teams have previously faced each other in 25 games and have won 12 games each. One fixture between England and South Africa didn’t fetch any result.
Key Players
Philip Salt (England): The opening better Philip Salt has been the star performer for the England cricket team in the 2024 edition of the T20 World Cup so far. The batter has been continuing his stunning form from the Indian Premier League 2024 as he is the top run-getter for England in the tournament so far with 147 runs in four innings at an average of 49.
His best performance in the tournament came during England’s last match against West Indies as the opening batter took home the Player of the Match award. When England was given the task of chasing 181 runs in the 20 overs, the opening batter came up with a knock of unbeaten 87 runs. Thus, the odds are in his favor to deliver another stunning performance and take his team home on Friday.
Anrich Nortje is one of the top performers for South Africa in the T20 World Cup 2024
Anrich Nortje (South Africa): For the South African cricket team, Anrich Nortje has been the player to watch out for in the ongoing tournament. The seamer has delivered a series of wonderful performances to occupy the second place in the top wicket-takers list just behind Fazalhaq Farooqi with as many as ten wickets in just five games at an average of 10.70.
Nortje couldn’t live up to the expectations in the last game against the USA as he ended up leaking runs at an economy rate of 9.2. However, the seamer is expected to get back to his golden form and churn out a match-winning performance for South Africa.
Predicted XIs
England: Philip Salt, Jos Buttler © (wk), Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Moeen Ali, Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood, Reece Topley
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markram ©, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Tabraiz Shamsi
Prediction
Though both England and South Africa are coming into the Friday encounter following a win in their respective first Super 8 matches, the odds are in favor of Proteas Men to score a win and climb to the top of the Group 2 points table. The South African team is unbeaten in the tournament so far and thus would be extremely high on confidence.