South Africa vs England, RSA vs ENG, Today Match Prediction 29 January 2023

sa vs eng Match Prediction & Analysis

The first ODI between South Africa and England proved to be a cracker of a contest where the current 50-over world champions crumbled in sensational style towards the end of their chase to lose the match by 27 runs. The Proteas have taken a 1-0 lead but England will be raring to bounce back harder in the other two games.  

TEAMS PREVIEW

South Africa Preview

South Africa have started the ODI series in style against the most fancied limited-overs team in the world. Batting first, they posted 298-7, with Rassie van der Dussen (111 off 117 balls) leading and David Miller (53 off 56 balls) providing the finishing touches. At one point, it looked like England would comfortably chase the target down when they were 222-4 in the 34th over. However, the South African bowlers bowled brilliantly in the last half of the innings and England’s long batting unit crumbled under pressure, falling 27 runs short.

Speedster Anrich Nortje's spell of 4 for 62 proved to be too hot to handle for the English batters and he will again be the main bowler to watch out for. Sisanda Magala (3-46) was great with his line and lengths while Kagiso Rabada (2-46) kept things tight throughout. This bowling lineup will again be a force to reckon with on the Bloemfontein pitch, which has some juice for the seam bowlers.

South Africa, however, would want a little more from their openers Quinton de Kock and Temba Bavuma.

South Africa Predicted Playing XI:

Temba Bavuma (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Wayne Parnell, Sisanda Magala, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Tabraiz Shamsi

South Africa Actual Playing XI:

Heinrich Klaasen, Anrich Nortje, Rassie van der Dussen, Marco Jansen, Quinton de Kock, Aiden Markram, Wayne Parnell, David Miller, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi, Temba Bavuma

England Preview

England were in the game for the majority of the first ODI, and yet ended up on the losing side. Chasing a target of 299, England's openers put on 146 for the first wicket in 19.2 overs. Opener Jason Roy, whose form had been on the wane for a while, made a superb comeback with a sparkling 113 off 91 balls. Dawid Malan (59 off 55 balls) was the ideal partner for him. However, a stunning lower-order collapse meant that England were eventually bowled out for 271. Roy-Malan's stand of 146 is now the 7th highest by any pair in an unsuccessful ODI chase.

England will take heart from Roy’s performance who had averaged just 16.9 in his previous 14 white-ball innings for the country. With him in form, the England batting unit looks even more formidable. Harry Brook was dismissed for 0 in the first ODI, but he’s a dangerous batter and we expect him to make some sort of an impact in the remaining two matches.

Captain Jos Buttler looked good for his 36 off 42 balls in the first match. He’s another batter to watch out for.

Sam Curran was the most impressive bowler for England, taking 3-35 in 9 overs. Adil Rashid (1-55) did a fine job on a pitch that didn’t really have much for the spinners. Jofra Archer’s return for England didn’t exactly live up to the hype as the fast bowler went for 81 runs in his 10 overs while taking just 1 wicket. However, he’s coming after a long layoff and is expected to take a few games to get back into full rhythm.

England Predicted Playing XI:

Jason Roy, Dawid Malan, Ben Duckett, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler (c & wk), Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, David Willey, Adil Rashid, Jofra Archer, Olly Stone

England Actual Playing XI:

Harry Brook, Jason Roy, Reece Topley, Adil Rashid, Moeen Ali, Ben Duckett, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, Olly Stone, Dawid Malan

PITCH AND WEATHER CONDITIONS

Weather Conditions

As we saw in the first match, the pitch at the Mangaung Oval in Bloemfontein tends to become a little harder to bat on as the ball becomes softer. It’s still a superb batting strip, but there will be some spice in it for the fast bowlers throughout. Spinners will find the goings tough. But the batters are likely to try and attack them more, which presents them with the opportunity to grab some wickets.

The weather in Bloemfontein during the match will be clear but hot.

Venue Details

The average score batting first at the Mangaung Oval is 240. The highest total posted at the venue is 399-9 against South Africa in 2016. Scores over 250 have been achieved 18 times here in 30 ODIs. The team batting first in this match will be looking to set a target of around 280-300 runs.

Toss: To Bat

The team winning the toss is likely to bat first again.