The cricket world has seen two major incidents in the current World Cup. In the first of which Afghanistan defeated the reigning champions England and in the second Netherlands defeated South Africa. A disaster-hit England-South Africa clash in their fourth match today.
The match will be played at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai at 2:30 PM.
The English started their World Cup journey by losing to the runners-up New Zealand last time. After that, they turned around with a win against Bangladesh. But then the Afghans came to blows. England suffered the first disaster of the World Cup by losing to Afghanistan. England, who are 5th in the table with two points, now face a tough challenge. To advance to the semi-finals, a win is required in 5 of the remaining 6 matches. Ahead are opponents like South Africa, Australia, Pakistan and India.
Jos Buttler’s side are desperate to put their bad times behind them with a win against South Africa. The English camp also received good news in difficult times. Ben Stokes, one of the best stars of the team, is starting this World Cup journey with this match. Although he bid farewell to the ODI version last year, he came back from retirement to play the World Cup. However, the World Cup winning hero could not play the first three matches due to injury.
On the other hand, South Africa, who started the World Cup with a huge win against Sri Lanka, got a big win in their second match as well. But in the third match, like England, they also suffered a big blow. In the third match they lost to the Netherlands. The supporters do not trust the Proteas who are famous for ‘Chokar’. They also aim to return to victory against England. Aiden Markram and de Kock are in rhythm with the bat. The team management is trusting Rabada and Marco Jansen with the ball.
The statistics of these two teams also give a glimpse of a tight fight. In 69 matches England won 30 against South Africa 33. In the head to head of the seven matches of the World Cup, however, the Three Lions are a little ahead.
(21 October/NBW)