🏏ICC T20I WC 2024: S8 - Match 45: SA vs England Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium, Gros Islet, St Lucia on 21/06/2024 at @8:00 PM IST🏏
Future hopes meet present needs as Group 2 pace-setters clash in St Lucia
England finding their range after difficult start as SA seek to maintain winning run
Who will give way at the top of Group 2?
What direction is the drama following these two teams going to go in next?
On the face of it, things are going smoothly for South Africa. They are unbeaten at the tournament and have won matches when both setting targets and chasing but, and this is a big but, none of it has been easy. It's not just they were pushed by former champions Sri Lanka (who actually did the least pushing) and fellow Super Eighters Bangladesh but also by three Associates: Netherlands, Nepal and USA. If England were watching, they will have seen the flaws in South Africa's make-up, most notably in the batting. Two of the top three - Quinton de Kock and Aiden Markram - have only just found form and the middle-order have not yet had the opportunity to play to their potential.
England will have been more pre-occupied with their own sideshows. They survived a group-stage scare in which they were all but written off after their rain-out against Scotland and have played and lost to their biggest rivals, Australia. Their net-run-rate boosting victories over Oman and Namibia helped ensure their survival once Scotland's challenge had faded, but their most recent win over West Indies could yet propel their campaign to a new level. It is entirely possible that three teams in a Super Eight pool of four could end up with two wins each, especially given USA's underdog status in Group 2, and so net run-rate could provide decisive. England's is currently at 1.34, which leaves them in a good position, and after their shaky start, they would like to think they've got on a roll.
South Africa might argue that they are already on one, and all they have to do is stay consistent with the knockouts in sight. Their next challenge is to maintain their winning start against two former champions. England's task is much less abstract. South Africa humbled them at the 2023 ODI World Cup, in the middle of a horror run they don't want to repeat, and with only USA to come, they have a chance to stamp their authority on this event.
[Tag and Logo Credit to Wildestdreams]
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