Match: South Africa vs England, (SA vs ENG, 1st ODI)
Date: January 27, 2023 – 4:30 PM IST
Venue: Mangaung Oval, Bloemfontein
South Africa’s much embraced league SA20 halts for a week as the home side takes on England in a three-match ODI series. The first of the three ODIs will take place at Mangaung Oval in Bloemfontein on Friday, January 27th.
The series is important for South Africa regarding the direct qualification for the 2023 ODI World Cup. They have 59 points in CWC Super League and need to win at least three of their remaining five games to surpass West Indies, who have 88 points. England have secured their spot in the world cup with 125 points.
These two met in a three-match ODI series in July last year in England. South Africa won the first match by 62 runs while England claimed the second by 118 runs to level the series. The third match ended in a no result after rain played spoilsport.
Jos Buttler, who has been part of the Paarl Royals, will don his captaincy cap. Most of the squad selected for the series is in the rainbow nation for the T20 league. Temba Bavuma returns to take charge of the Proteas. The Proteas are going in with a full strength side, considering the high stakes for the qualification. England, on the other hand, have either rested or will miss a few players due to injuries.
Pitch Report and Weather Forecast for SA vs ENG, 1st ODI, BBL 2022
Mangaung Oval in Bloemfontein is a venue where seamers should get movement with the new ball. Batters can find a lot of value for shots once they survive the early period. The average first innings score from 31 ODIs played here stands at 239. England have registered the highest total at this venue, having smashed 399/9 versus South Africa.
As for the weather, Bloemfontein is expected to be sunny and hot on Friday. The temperature will touch mid 30°C in the afternoon and should drop to around 20 degrees in the evening.
South Africa – Expected XI and Team News
South Africa are going full strength for this series, which means some selection headaches. Aiden Markram and Heinrich Klaasen are vying for one spot at no. 5 while Wayne Parnell and Marco Jansen will be competing for the pace all-rounder spot. Lungi Ngidi or Tabraiz Shamsi could miss out depending on conditions.
Probable XI – Quinton de Kock (wk), Janneman Malan, Temba Bavuma (c), Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram/Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Wayne Parnell, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi/Tabraiz Shamsi
England – Expected XI and Team News
England won’t have the likes of Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root and Liam Livingstone. That opens opportunities for the likes of Phil Salt, Ben Duckett and Harry Brook. Salt missed a few games in SA20 due to illness and could miss out here as well. Jofra Archer was added to the squad late and has looked in good rhythm in SA20. He could well be included here.
Probable XI – Jason Roy, Dawid Malan, Ben Duckett, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler (c/wk), Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley
Head to head record of SA vs ENG
Total Encounters – 66
South Africa Won – 31
England Won – 29
Tie – 1
No Result – 5
England lead the last five encounters by 2-1.
Best Captaincy Picks for the SA vs ENG match
Rassie van der Dussen: Batter, South Africa
Rassie van der Dussen has a terrific record in the fifty-over format. He has scored 1525 runs in 32 innings at an average of 69 and strike rate of 90. He has three hundreds and 11 fifties to his name at this level. RvD smashed 134 in one of the games last time these two teams met.
Jos Buttler: Wicketkeeper Batter, England
Assuming the top order could be vulnerable due to new ball movement, Jos Buttler becomes a top C/VC option. He has been in good form in the SA20 and has a stellar record in ODI cricket. Buttler has scored 4250 runs at an average of 40 while striking at 119, including 10 hundreds and 22 fifties.
Anrich Nortje: Bowler, South Africa
The fast bowler has been in magnificent form in recent times, bowling at rapid pace across formats. Anrich Nortje has been terrific in the SA20 and has done well in ODIs. He has taken 28 wickets from 16 innings with two four-wicket hauls.
Top Differential Picks
Janneman Malan: Batter, South Africa
Janneman Malan has been selected by only around 10% of the MPL teams and offers a great differential value. He has scored 958 runs in the ODI format at an average of 48 with three hundreds and four fifties.
Chris Woakes: All-rounder, England
Chris Woakes is picked by 22% of the MPL teams and can be a good differential pick. He has 157 wickets in ODI cricket at an economy of 5.45 with 10 four-fors and three five-fors. Woakes has also 1322 runs to his name at 25 average with five fifties.
MPL Fantasy XI
Where and what time to watch the match live in India
For those in India, you can catch the action from the series between South Africa and England on Sony Sports Network. Watch the first ODI at 4:30 PM on Friday. You can also catch the action live on online streaming platform Sony LIV application.
Note: The players recommended here need not be a part of the Playing 11 on game day. Users are advised to do their own research also and follow official sources and create their teams.
