The last team to get their Cricket T20 World Cup campaign underway does so on Friday afternoon when South Africa take on England in the second half of the double header on the day. After the early game in Dharamsala the attention switches to Mumbai for this one.
South Africa have perennially underachieved in global events and with each one that comes and goes the strength of doubt grows stronger but this could be a good time for the Proteas as they have a few new players in their squad who don’t carry the mental scars others have in the past.
One of those players is the new hotshot on the scene Kagiso Rabada and with Dale Steyn being fit Rabada is likely to keep Kyle Abbott out of the side. Rilee Rossouw will be hoping to force his way into the starting line up but amazingly there is talk Quinton de Kock could miss out.
England are already under pressure in this tournament. They ran into a Gayle Storm on Wednesday to go down to the West Indies and they might already be playing ‘no lose cricket’ if they are to make it through. Although they don’t face Chris Gayle here they will need to keep AB de Villiers quiet else their tournament could be over as quick as the 50 over equivalent.
You would think England will make a change with the ball with Liam Plunkett waiting on the sidelines to come in. Reece Topley could be under pressure for his place given that Chris Jordan and David Willey bowled fairly well. That should be the only change if England decide to make it.
England will know conditions at the Wankhede very well having played here on Wednesday and that could be an advantage. As we saw in that match the wicket is usually always good for batting and the ground is small so defending any target is a tough ask.
South Africa are pretty dominant when these two meet in 20 over cricket. They’ve won seven and lost three against England and two of those wins came in South Africa last month so the Proteas will be full of confidence and belief heading into the tournament bow.
For all their dominance over England it is a mad bet to take South Africa at 8/11 on this ground until you know the result of the toss. There is a significant advantage to batting second here and I wouldn’t want to plough my dough on a short pot and then immediately lose the advantage by them batting first so I’ll sit the match betting out.
Luckily there is a bet I am attracted to and it comes in the form of the England sixes. The line looks both low and highly achievable at 6.5 and I’m happy to indulge in that.
England hit sixes all the way down as they showed us on Wednesday when Moeen Ali strode out at eight and belted his first ball out of the ground. We know their bowling attack will leak runs so even if England bat second they should be chasing enough to need seven sixes especially on this small ground.
Of course if England do bat second the dew will hamper the South African bowlers and if England bat first they will go big to maximise the score they can try to defend. Whichever way the game plays out this total is well within the reach of a powerful and deep batting line up like this one.
I’m also going to chance AB de Villiers to be the man of the match. He has a great recent record at the Wankhede. His last two innings here have seen him hit 133 off 59 balls in an IPL game and 119 off just 61 deliveries in an ODI.
Clearly the good pitch gives de Villiers faith that he can play his shots and if he gets going South Africa are almost certain to get this one done even allowing for the second innings bias. We saw him take a game away from England on similar sized boundaries in Johannesburg last month. A repeat has to rate better than an 8/1 chance.
WON – Back England Over 6.5 sixes for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Paddy Power
Back them here:
Back AB.de Villiers Man of the Match for a 1/10 stake at 9.00 with Ladbrokes
Back him here:
