Both England and South Africa were left licking their wounds after copping defeats that were both deemed as upsets of the tournament. England, the reigning world champions who have some of the best players in the world in their batting lineup, ended up losing to the far-less fancied Afghanistan. South Africa, on the other hand, were in red-hot form going into their match against the Netherlands, the only associate nation in this tournament, but they ended up spectacularly falling to a 38-run defeat.
Both sides are playing their fourth matches of the tournament and while it is has not yet come to a stage where any team can be ruled out of contention for the semi-final, England will feel some pressure to win the game considering they go into it placed sixth and a whopping five points off the top of the table. South Africa, on the other hand, would have got a number of reminders of the tag of “chokers” hurled at them in World Cups after the loss to the Dutch. They would be desperate to prove that the loss to Netherlands was just a little glitch and they are in fact as good as they seemed in their first two matches. While almost all games in the World Cup have ended up with one-sided finishes, this match at the Wankhede Stadium could take a different route.
England could be handed a major boost in the form of talismanic all-rounder Ben Stokes possibly being available for selection. A dodgy hip had kept Stokes out of the first three matches but the England Test captain has indicated that he is ready to take the field now. South Africa, meanwhile, would hope that Quinton de Kock’s failure to fire against the Netherlands was just a one-off. The wicketkeeper-batter had scored 100 and 109 in the two matches before that.
Head-to-head in ODIs
England and South Africa have played 69 ODIs against each other. The Proteas have won 33 of those matches, England have won 30 while five have had no results. There was also one match that famously ended in a tie in Bloemfontein in 2005.
Head-to-head in World Cup
The two teams have faced each other seven times in the World Cup. England edge ahead 4-3 in the head to head. South Africa have lost their last two World Cup matches against England in 2019 and 2011 but had won three on the trot before that in 2008, 1999 and 1996.
