England and South Africa end their limited overs action on Sunday when the two sides do battle in a deciding third T20 in Cardiff. England opened up the series with a comfortable win in Southampton before South Africa levelled it up in Taunton so everything is on the line in this finale.
With a Test series to come between the two sides in a couple of weeks a series win may provide some positivity for whichever side gets it ahead of the longer format next month.
England
Eoin Morgan recently said that his side lack nous in the knockout matches because they don’t play enough competitive must win games so they will be pleased to have the opportunity to play one here. Of course in the wider picture this match means little but if England can develop the mindset that every series counts then these deciders can be of benefit long term.
While he might welcome the chance to play a deciding match Morgan will know his side should have the series won by now. They were cruising in the second match at Taunton but then failed to get over the line from a series of favourable positions so they need to be more ruthless should that situation arise again.
South Africa
Much was made about how much better South Africa were in the second match at Taunton but the fact that they were heading for defeat for much of the second innings seems to have been lost. That said credit should go to them for their fight back especially on a ground which is notoriously difficult to defend.
I still think if South Africa are going to win the series they are going to need to play better. That said they have plenty more to give. They have barely batted at all in the series so far. AB de Villiers aside near enough all of their top order have a lot more to offer and if they click in this innings they could be tough to cling onto.
Team News
England have already committed to playing Dawid Malan and Craig Overton so they are expected to make their debuts. Jonny Bairstow has left to join up with Yorkshire ahead of the day-night Championship round.
South Africa found a bowling attack that was useful in the previous game and they could stick with it although Tabraiz Shamsi hasn’t done a lot so Imran Tahir could come into the side.
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Betting
South Africa might have levelled the series but England have shown to me that they are comfortably the better side. They would have won the previous match from the position they were in probably eight times out of 10 at least so I fancy them to win here but with the demons of their Champions Trophy defeat on this ground and the short price I’ll just watch them win.
I was very confident about the sixes line in the previous match but sadly England decided to hit everything for four rather than six. That is very much the anomaly rather than the norm with this England side though and while I’m not as confident in the sixes here because of that effort on Friday and because of the larger square boundaries here I still can’t ignore a line of 9.5 sixes.
England are likely to bring Alex Hales back into their mix and the straight boundaries here are a mere chip shot as we saw when England played New Zealand in the Champions Trophy but at this format of the game I would imagine the square boundaries will be in a bit too so we should get double figures in sixes.
Tips
WON – Back Over 9.5 sixes for a 4/10 stake at 1.80 with Ladbrokes
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