The second set of matches in the Super Eights stage of the T20 World Cup get started on Friday afternoon when a place in the semi-final is up for grabs as England go up against South Africa in St Lucia.
Both these sides have struggled at times in this tournament but they both showed signs of coming good in their first match in this stage of the event and a win here would put the victor through to the last four with a game to spare.
England
There is no getting away from the fact that England were fortunate to get out of their first group. Had it rained for another half an hour against Namibia they would have been flying home by now but they were given a lifeline, both by that rain stopping and Australia subsequently seeing off Scotland to ensure they went through, and they have immediately seized the initiative with their second life having thrashed West Indies in their first match.
One thing England certainly won’t have been complaining about is having two of their matches in this stage in St Lucia where the pitch plays the best of all of them in terms of how England can be successful. There is a feeling they got away with a few runs being left on the board by West Indies in that opening game but in the main it was the best bowling display England have shown in this tournament. A repeat of that will have them hard to beat because we know all about their batting depth.
South Africa
South Africa had a much more dominant record in their opening group having won all four matches but they were a matter of inches away from losing one of them and being forced into a super over in another one, so on another day their ledger could have looked much different. We went into this stage of the tournament waiting for them to put on a strong showing with the bat, which hadn’t happened in the opening part of the event, and we got it against USA.
They showed much more of the clean hitting, confident, brute force batting that we have seen from the personnel in this side in competitions such as the SA20 and the Indian Premier League and it would be a huge surprise if we don’t see more of that here because St Lucia is the best batting track in the tournament so far. The Proteas have bowled very well throughout the tournament so they’ll be feeling good about their chances here.
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Team News
England have been rotating bowlers through the competition so far but it would be a surprise if that happens here. If they are to make any changes then it might be for Will Jacks to return to lengthen the batting but that appears unlikely.
Tabraiz Shamsi didn’t have his best outing against the USA in the first Super Eights match so with St Lucia not really a haven for the spinners he might sit this one out with South Africa choosing to bring Ottniel Baartman back into the side.
Betting
In the first match here in St Lucia in this group between England and West Indies I suggested not to overthink things and take the boundaries and I am not running from that philosophy here either. You can rightly argue that the South Africa bowling attack offers a stronger 20 over threat than the West Indies one but it is still an attack that went for 22 boundaries against USA in Barbados where the track isn’t quite as true as it is here.
That makes me think that England will certainly contribute to the boundary hitting and this South Africa side surely must as well. There is so much depth to this South Africa batting unit and with the likes of Quinton de Kock and Aiden Markram finding form last time out the boundaries are expected to flow, especially if England have to rotate their bowlers with the short turnaround. The boundary line for this one is 43.5 and that doesn’t look high enough to me.
Tips
Back Over 43.5 boundaries for a 3/10 stake at 1.80 with Bet365
