The first of three T20 internationals between England and South Africa takes place in Bristol on Wednesday and we take a look at the squads, recent form and the all important betting.
Last week's ODI series was shared 1-1 with the Proteas winning the first contest by 62 runs, England squared things up with a 118 run win in a rain affected game and on Sunday no result was possible in the decider.
This is a 3 match series and we start with the squads.
England: Jos Buttler (c), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Richard Gleeson, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Jason Roy, Phil Salt, Reece Topley, David Willey
South Africa :David Miller (c), Gerald Coetzee , Quinton de Kock , Reeza Hendricks , Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj , Aiden Markram , Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Wayne Parnell, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Rilee Rossouw , Tabraiz Shamsi, Tristan Stubbs, Rassie van der Dussen
Recent Form
England have just completed a 3 match series against India. They lost the first match by 50 runs and then went down by 49 runs in the second before gaining consolation with a 17 run victory in the final contest for a 2-1 series defeat. In the West Indies in January this year England lost the series 3-2. In late 2021 they made it to the semi finals of the World T20 in the UAE where they lost to New Zealand.
South Africa were in India in June for a 5 match series. They won the first 2 matches, lost the third and fourth and no result was possible in what would have been a decider and the series was drawn. Prior to the series in India the Proteas hadn't been in T20 action since the World Cup late last year. They lost just 1 of their 5 pool matches (to Australia) but failed to make the play offs after finishing third to England and the Aussies on net run rate.
Head to Head
Overall the teams have met 22 times with England winning 11 to South Africa's 10 with 1 no result
The most recent meeting came in the T20 World Cup in Sharjah in November last year and the Proteas came out on top by 10 runs with van der Dussen (92 not out) helping them defend 189/2.
County Ground, Bristol
Over the course of the last decade England have played 3 T20's at this venue and they have lost all of them. The last T20 international England played at this ground saw them lose to India by 7 wickets in 2018.
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The Betting - 1st T20
At the time of writing England are 4/7 to win the match and South Africa are 11/8
Jos Buttler is 5/2 to top score for England and de Kock is 13/5 to do likewise for South Africa
England are 13/20 to hit the most 6's with South Africa 13/8 and the tie is 15/2
Note all prices are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
The Verdict
England's recent white ball form remains very unstable and I wouldn't be rushing to take such short price quotes about them winning the game. It will still be a tough task for the Proteas though and I prefer the exotics
Jos Buttler needs to lead by example and the recently appointed skipper gets a speculative nod to score a 50
Tabraiz Shamsi is my go to man in the top SA wicket taker market and short format specialist Chris Jordan is the pick in the equivalent market for the hosts
Bets: To Score a 50, Jos Buttler? (yes) at 21/10
Top SA Wicket Taker, Tabraiz Shamsi at 11/4
Top England Wicket Taker, Chris Jordan at 15/4
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Note all prices are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
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