The first of three ODI's between England and South Africa takes place at Chester-le-Street on Tuesday and we take a look at the squads, recent form and the all important betting.
This 3 match series will be follow by 3 T20's and 3 test matches and we start with the squads.
England: Jos Buttler (c), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Brydon Carse, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Craig Overton, Matthew Potts, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Phil Salt, Ben Stokes, Reece Topley, David Willey
With Temba Bavuma out injured Maharaj takes over as skipper and the Proteas will select from the following squad.
South Africa:Keshav Maharaj (c), Quinton de Kock, Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen, Janneman Malan, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Anrich Nortje, Tabraiz Shamsi, Rassie van der Dussen, Lizaad Williams, Khaya Zondo, Kyle Verreynne
Recent Form
England have just completed a 3 match series against India. They lost the first match by 10 wickets, won the second by 100 runs and on Sunday they lost the decider by 5 wickets. England were in the Netherlands last month and they coasted to a 3-0 clean sweep of the series. In June / July 2021 they beat Sri Lanka 2-0 and Pakistan 3-0 in home series'.
South Africa hosted Bangladesh in March and they were surprisingly beaten 2-1. In January they impressed with a 3-0 clean sweep of a home series against India and in September last year they lost 2-1 in Sri Lanka. In warm ups for this series the Proteas played 2 matches against an England Lions side, losing the first by 6 wickets but winning the second by 107 runs.
Head to Head
Overall the teams have met 63 times with England winning 28 to South Africa's 30 with 1 tie and 4 no results
The most recent series came in South Africa in February 2020 and it was shared at 1-1.
Riverside Ground, Chester le Street
Over the course of the last decade England have played 5 ODI's at this venue. They lost the first to Sri Lanka but won each of the next 4, against New Zealand (twice), Australiaa and Sri Lanka.
In June 2021 England beat Sri Lanka by 5 wickets, chasing down 186 for victory with 15 overs to spare with Joe Root top scoring with 79 not out.
Click here for the weather forecast
The Betting - 1st ODI
At the time of writing England are 5/10 to win the match and South Africa are 31/20
Bairstow and Root are both trading at 11/4 to top score for England and de Kock is the same price to do likewise for South Africa
Note all prices are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
The Verdict
With a quick turnaround after the India series England might be tempted to make a few changes to their line up but one man who looks set to play is Ben Stokes who has just announced he will retire from ODI cricket after this match.
Stokes will no doubt want to go out with a bang so I will have a nibble at the 8/1 available about him picking up the Man of the Match award.
The Proteas bowlers found it tough going in the 2 warm ups but whilst I must admit to being in the dark about the way the pitch might play, Shamsi often gives a run in the top SA bowler market.
Bets: Man of the Match Ben Stokes at 8/1
Top SA Wicket Taker Shamsi at 33/10
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Note all prices are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
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