South Africa will kick start its home season with the white-ball series with England, and the Proteas will host the first T20I at Cape Town on Friday.
Match Timings: Nov 27, 9:30 PM (IST)
Team Preview
South Africa will mark the beginning of its home summer with a T20 series, and de Kock will have a challenging task against England. Proteas had some positives from their last international assignment against Australia at home. They lost the T20I series to the Aussies, followed by a 3-0 clean sweep victory in ODIs. England also visited South Africa in 2019-20, and they won the T20I series and drawn the ODI series 1-1.
Proteas had recalled Faf, who had a tremendous form in Indian T20 League, and in top-order, De Kock would expect a similar show from the former skipper. South African players had shown outstanding performances in the recently concluded Indian T20 League. Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje will take charge of the pace-attack. The duo was excellent for Delhi in Indian T20 League. Lungi Ngidi as the third seamer and Shamsi as the spinning option would make Proteas a tight bowling side. Dussen has been a key player in the middle-order, but David Miller's performance would be a worrying sign for South Africa. Andile Phehlukwayo can find his name in playing XI, but de Kock might go with Reeza Hendricks, who would also open for South Africa.
Meanwhile, England has played more competitive cricket during the pandemic, and they remained unbeaten in the T20 series against Pakistan and Australia at home. In ODIs, they edged past Ireland 2-1. English players were also part of the Indian T20 League, and the majority of the players were in top form. The opening might be a mystery for Morgan after seeing so many contenders at the top. Buttler has opened in England’s home summer, and Jason Roy has also been included in the side who might open on Friday.
Bairstow could be dropped, and Morgan can pick Moeen Ali to get some spin option for the middle-overs. Adil Rashid is already in the squad, so it would depend on the skipper to try either Bairstow or Ali in the playing XI. Stokes and Sam Curran had also opened for their franchises in Indian T20 League, but Morgan would not interrupt their current opening slot. Dawid Malan and Eoin Morgan both are the leading scorers in the T20s this year, so South Africa needs to find their wickets soon. England’s squad is more balanced, and their recent success in the T20 format puts them ahead in this first assignment in Cape Town.
Pitch Report
The Newlands ground is a fine batting track, and it provides adequate assistance to the spinners. With the new ball, pacers can trouble in the powerplay. We expect a score around 175 on this venue, and it would be chasable.
Possible XI
South Africa
Quinton de Kock (C/WK), Rassie van der Dussen, Faf du Plessis, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Andile Phehlukwayo, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Tabraiz Shamsi, Anrich Nortje
England
Jos Buttler (WK), Jason Roy, Dawid Malan, Jonny Bairstow/ Moeen Ali, Eoin Morgan (C), Ben Stokes, Sam Curran, Jofra Archer, Chris Jordan, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood
Key Players
Quinton de Kock
Indian T20 League 2020 – M: 16, Runs: 503, Avg: 35.92
Kagiso Rabada
Indian T20 League 2020 – M: 17, Wickets: 30, Avg: 18.26
England
Eoin Morgan
Indian T20 League 2020 – M: 14, Runs: 418, Avg: 35.92
Dawid Malan
Home summer 2020 – M: 6, Runs: 213, Avg: 42.6
