England vs South Africa: Who is the Favourite Here?

England were humbled by Afghanistan and South Africa were clean up by Netherlands, so both elite Test-playing nations are not at the peak of their confidence at the moment.

Defending champions England are fifth in the table after losing two matches so far. The Proteas are ranked third with two wins. Both teams have played three games in the 2023 World Cup yet.

No one saw Afghanistan beating the Englishmen, but brilliant spin attack got the better of Jos Buttler and co.

As for the Proteas, the Dutch have seemingly got their number and that helps them thump the Proteas in mega events, take a look at the 2021 world cup match between the two for instance. 

However, their overall form is looking quite good in the tournament so far. 

They have beaten Australia and Sri Lanka so far, two sides that have a knack for standing tall in ICC events.

But just when they were riding on high confidence, the Dutchmen crippled them.

England vs South Africa: Head-to-head record

South Africa have a slight edge over the Englishmen when it comes to their ODI history. 

In their 69 ODI meetings, South Africa have beaten them 33 times, whereas England has won 30 games. Five matches ended without a result and one in a draw.

However, In ODI World Cups, England have won four times and SA has won thrice.

When the two sides met each other in their last 50-over series at the start of 2023, the Proteas won the three-match series 2-1. They claimed the series with two wins straight and England then grabbed a consolidatory victory in the final match.

England vs South Africa: Who is likely to win MOTM?

Both teams are considered juggernauts of cricket regardless of the format. While England are the current champions, South Africa are also in a red-hot form.

However, there have been some anomalies here and there, the players who stand head and shoulders above others and may end up making a difference on Saturday.

Bairstow

Johnny Baristow is yet to make a huge impact for his team in this world cup, but the way he has gone about his innings in every game just indicates that a match-winning knock is just around the corner.

He has a habit of standing tall in big games and the games don’t get bigger than a classic England vs South Africa clash. His scores in the last three games have been 33, 52 and 2.

With an average of nearly 45 in ODIs, the right-handed opener will always be a potent threat for the opposition regardless of his current form which isn’t too bad either.

England have shown an aggressive intent in white-ball cricket and Bairstow is the torch-bearer for this approach.

As an opener, he comes in all guns blazing and smokes the pacers for incredible hits. He doesn’t like to waste much time, consume too many dot balls and tap the ball around.

This approach has been successful for England across the formats, but it is yet to click on the tricky Indian wickets. They will, however, stick to it as it has worked for them so far and one can’t ever rule out the defending champions regardless of their recent form.

De Kock

Quinton de Kock has shown no signs of stopping with two consecutives centuries in this world cup, setting it on fire since South Africa’s opening game of the world cup.

The wicket-keeper batsman may have a little trouble middling the ball in the opening spells of Reece Topley and Wood, but South Africa will be looking at a humongous total if he can survive the early overs and get going later on.

He’s the only man in this tournament who has reached two centuries in only three matches he’s played. Who knows what more he will offer in the later part of the tournament?

Joe Root

Root is perhaps the backbone of the England team in ODIs. In Ben Stokes’ absence, Root provides reliance and stability to the brittle English middle order.

His calm approach brings a balance to the hard-hitting mindset of the England team.

He has already got two fifties in the three contests he has played.

Markram

A couple weeks ago when the world cup had just kicked off, Aiden Markram smoked the fastest century in Men's Cricket World Cup history against Sri Lanka.

His 54-ball 106 helped the Proteas get to 428/5 in the first innings. SA went on to win the contest and Markam was declared the player of the match.

The right-handed batter is likely to go big tomorrow and try to get his team over the line.

Being the bridge between top and middle-order of the SA batting line-up, Markam is often seen making partnerships with David Miller and Heinrich Klassen.

He’s got a diverse game which allows him to play according to the situation, meaning that he can go purely for rotation of strike in crunch situations and also hammer bowlers for fours and sixes repeatedly.

England vs South Africa Match prediction

While both England and South Africa are elite sides in ODIs, the Proteas will have an upper hand over the visitors because of their position in the table.

England have not been bowling up to the mark whereas South Africa have been a better bowling unit overall. Hence, Temba Bavuma is most likely to grab their third win on Saturday.

Apart from the last Netherlands game, SA look formidable in every department. They were a tad careless in the middle overs against the Dutchmen and that cost them the game.

If they continue the same errors against Buttler’s unit, their loss tally will increase but a top side like them should learn from the mistakes.