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South Africa vs England | 1st ODI: Match Preview, Predicted XI & Dream11 Fantasy Picks


The three T20I rubbers between England and South Africa saw the rich grow richer and the poor get poorer in terms of results and consequently, ambition. If cricket is what fuels your fire, you needn't be told who is whom. But just in case you've been too caught up with office work of late or were forced to maintain social distancing from the television on account of a college research paper, let's get the facts straight.

England riding the crest of a wave

England arrived to the party with a certain superiority complex and wasted little time in delivering the bite to their bark. The three-nil whitewash planted them on the top of the ranking charts and conveyed them a litany of positives, not least Dawid Malan thumping the seal of approval to his prestige with an aggregate of 173 runs. Jos Buttler, Sam Curran and Chris Jordan too made to the highlights reel on different occasions and are expected to remain the vital cogs in England's wheel as they set their eyes on the marquee prize, the T20 World Cup next year. They are being touted as firm favourites on the basis of their current record which beams seven T20I series victories and a stalemate since October 2018.

South Africa slid further in the rabbit hole of despair

South Africa, on the flipside, stayed behind the eight ball for the majority of the slam-bang adventure and were left pondering the what-ifs. They did themselves no favours by showing Anrich Nortje the bench in the series opener, a decision which defied logic given his dash to fame in the recently concluded IPL. Common sense is not so common, as they say. Keeping the selection blunders aside, their batsmen reeked of cricketing complacencies of unfinished business. A hop, skip and jump to twenty or thirty, and then a swing for the mountains to leave the job undone, a recurring theme which ultimately proved to be their undoing in their own backyard.


Proteas devoid of lynchpins du Plessis, Rabada

Their shot at redemption comes in the form of three one-day internationals kick-starting from Friday, December 4. While South Africa initially announced a one-size-fits-all contingent to tackle both the white-ball legs, the formation has witnessed an eleventh-hour rejig. Faf du Plessis has been released from the extended squad owing to stress management. Pite van Biljon, Reeza Hendricks and Bjorn Fortuin have also been relegated to their respective unions to compete in the ongoing Franchise Series. Kagiso Rabada has already limped out of the bio-bubble to begin rehabilitation after sustaining a right-adductor strain. The absence of kingpins du Plessis and Rabada will be a slap in the face of a beleaguered South Africa desperately yearning for the green shoots to bloom.

England serve pink slips to Stokes, Archer, Sam Curran and Jordan

England, on the other hand, have dished out vacations to Sam Curran, Chris Jordan, Jofra Archer and Ben Stokes following their gruelling stints in the IPL. Olly Stone, Lewis Gregory, Chris Woakes and Joe Root will replace the quartet for the fifty-over jousts. Tom Banton and James Vince are the notable omissions while Liam Livingstone is in line to receive his maiden ODI cap.

The agendas will resemble chalk and cheese when the two teams bask in the glory of Cape Town. England will aim to ensure the foot doesn't swerve even a bit from the pedal whereas South Africa will look to put behind the sheer disgrace of a clean sweep and start from scratch. Turbo-charged cricketing action nestled in the splendour of the Table Mountain. Label a fan too greedy if he's asking for more. 

SA vs ENG, 1st ODI: Match Details

Venue: Newlands, Cape Town

Broadcast: Star Sports Network

Date and Timing: 4th December, 01:00 PM local; 04:30 PM IST

Pitch Report 

It isn't often that pitches in South Africa veer away from their reputation of being fast and furious. But much to the chagrin of all involved, that has been the case so far since England landed in the metropolitan. The usually zingy track at Newlands has unveiled it's alter ego, with the ball holding up clumsily into the pitch and making life difficult for batsmen who relish playing strokes on the rise. Tabraiz Shamsi, George Linde and Adil Rashid each plied their trade with reasonable success in the T20Is and hence, spinners are presumed to cast a web on what deems like a soggy biscuit of a surface. All this holds valid unless the curator springs up a surprise and the devilish deck reverts to type.  

Weather and Toss

England won the toss and opted to bowl in the first two of three games while South Africa chose to bat after flicking the coin in their favour in the dead rubber. The crux of the matter here is that the side chasing emerged triumphant in each affair. It's a decent enough sample size for captains to have the first bite of the cherry in the windless sunshine of Cape Town. 

Team News

England

The visitors will welcome Root and Moeen Ali with open arms while Sam Billings would also creep into the middle-order. Mark Wood didn't feature in the slam-bang version but should be raring to go now under Chris Woakes' tutelage and with Tom Curran for company, who leaked runs aplenty in the inaugural T20I. Livingstone is a tried-and-tested gun with the willow but even if he enrols himself into the vast void of Stokes later at some stage, England would rue a floating military-medium resource. Safe to say, the three lions pack a punch despite the unavailability of their crown jewels. 

Probable XI:

Jonny Bairstow, Jason Roy, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan (c), Jos Buttler (wk), Sam Billings, Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood, Tom Curran

South Africa

Janneman Malan should vault on board for du Plessis while Andile Phehlukwayo is supposed to step into Rabada's shoes. None denying the fact that the numbers will dip considerably on the speed radar. David Miller was confined to refreshment duties hitherto and would be dying to eat a slice of the pie, but his fate will be determined by what combination do South Africa take the field with. Left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj will bring the much-needed experience to the table and owns perfect foils in Tabrez Shamsi and Linde, who have both impressed with their penny-pinching exploits in the T20I rendezvous. Nortje and Lungi Ngidi will chaperone the pace attack, albeit the latter had a tough last day at the office. 

Probable XI:

Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock (c & wk), Janneman Malan, Rassie van der Dussen, David Miller, Heinrich Klassen, Keshav Maharaj, Tabraiz Shamsi, Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi, Andile Phehlukwayo

South Africa vs England: Dream 11 and fantasy team suggestions

Quinton de Kock, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler, Rassie van der Dussen, Eoin Morgan, Joe Root, Tabraiz Shamsi, Keshav Maharaj,  Anrich Nortje, Chris Woakes and Adil Rashid

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Australia vs India | 1st T20I: Match Preview, Predicted XI & Dream11 Fantasy Picks

Having finally tasted victory on the Australian tour team India and its captain Virat Kohli would like to continue the same momentum going into the T20I series which begins with the first game at Manuka Oval, Canberra, the same ground where India defeated Australia on Wednesday. The Australians though missed out on an opportunity to whitewash the Men in Blue and almost managed it with Glenn Maxwell and his brilliance. If it wasn’t for Jasprit Bumrah’s inch-perfect yorker, It could have been an easy victory for Australia. Having said that, India would be hoping to came a comeback into the Australian summer with the T20 series and the format could not have been more suitable considering the form the contingent has shown for their respective teams in the recently concluded Indian Premier League. What do the records say? The Australian team in the year 2020 played six games winning three and losing three. The team in opposition, India has an impressive 5-0 score in their favour when it comes to wins and losses. On head to head as well, India fares better than the Kangaroos with 11 victories in 21 games, while their opponents have only 8. When it comes to matches in Australia, even then the Indian team is ahead with 5 games to 3 in the 9 matches played between the two Down Under. There, however, is one thing that the Indian teams have to be mindful of, and that is the record of the last five games played between the two nations. Australia have won 4 of them while Virat Kohli and his men could muster just one win among the five. In their last and only game at Manuka oval, Australia beat Pakistan quite comprehensively and Steve Smith was the Man of the Match. Aus vs Ind: Match Details Match No. - 1st T20I Venue: Manuka Oval, Canberra Broadcast: SonyLIV, Sony Ten Network, DD Sports Date and Timing: 2nd December, 01:40 pm IST, 08:10 GMT Pitch Report If the last game was to give any indication, the pitch has something in it for both the batsmen and the bowlers if they hit the right areas. Since it would be a full night affair, the pitch would also remain the same for both sides, with a slight advantage to the team bowling second as indicated from the game yesterday. Weather and Toss The weather at Manuka Oval is predicted to be cricket friendly as the city would have clear skies on Friday. As far as the toss is concerned, it wouldn’t be a bad option to chase considering how close Australia came while chasing that total in the last ODI. In a total 10 T20Is have been played at the venue, five times team batting first have won while 4 times it has been the other way around. So there isn’t much to choose from empirical evidence as well. Team News Australia The Australian team would have obvious changes in the sense that D’Arcy Short and Mitchell Starc would come into the teams in places of Marnus Labuschagne and Sean Abbot while the rest of the team would most likely remain the same. Moises Henriques and Cameroon Green along with Maxwell would be the three all-rounders for Australia. If Stoinis attains full fitness, which can only be clarified on the match day, he might replace Henriques. Strongest XI Aaron Finch(c), D’Arcy Short, Steve Smith, Moises Henriques, Glenn Maxwell, Alex Carey (wk), Cameron Green, Ashton Agar, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Adam Zampa India The Indian team would also likely remain the same barring the obvious two changes of Shubamn Gill and Kuldeep Yadav, both of whom are not part of the T20I setup. In their places, Sanju Samson and Yuzvendra Chahal would be the likely entrants, while the rest of the team would remain constant. The only surprise that India might throw, would be the inclusion of Manish Pandey, at Shreyas Iyer’s place as he has failed thrice on the tour so far. Strongest XI Sanju Samson, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli (c), KL Rahul (wk), Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Deepak Chahar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, T. Natarajan Australia vs India: Dream11 and fantasy team suggestions Sanju Samson(wk), Aaron Finch (C), Steve Smith, Virat Kohli, Lokesh Rahul (VC), Glenn Maxwell, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Josh Hazlewood, Adam Zampa, Jasprit Bumrah Captain: Aaron Finch Vice-Captain: Lokesh Rahul India T20I squad: Virat Kohli (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Mayank Agarwal, KL Rahul (wicketkeeper), Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Sanju Samson (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Navdeep Saini, Deepak Chahar, T Natarajan Australia T20 Squad: Aaron Finch (c), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey , Pat Cummins (vc), Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Moises Henriques, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Daniel Sams, D'Arcy Short, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Andrew Tye, Matthew Wade, Adam Zampa

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England use coded signals from dressing room; players, ECB defend move

Modern-day cricket needs more than players’ and captain’s game-awareness on the field and keeping that in mind the England cricket team has adopted a single-sending measure that is based on the use of coded signals from the team’s balcony on the ground. The tactics were evident at the Newlands where the team was facing the host South Africa in the third and final T20 of the series and the team analyst Nathan Leamon was seen placing the cards with some numbers that sent signals to the English players and captain in particular. England vice-captain Jos Buttler likened the move as one of the modes for value addition and compared it to the two strategic timeouts in the Indian Premier League where the players and captains on the field get the opportunity to collect feedback and inputs from the analysis team. However, in the English team setup, it has been left for the players and captain to decide if they want to adopt the signal and tactical suggestions that it brings or wishes to ignore them and go ahead with their own tactics based on match situations. "The lads were checking their Euromillions numbers. Eoin works closely with Nathan to work on the match-ups. In the IPL, you have two tactical time-outs for suggestions from analysts, but you have to be careful how you use it, there has to be an instinctive, intuitive side to the game," Buttler told Sky Sports suggesting the idea behind this development in the England team setup. On the other hand, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has said that the signalling system was under trial for along time and the process is just another value addition as a ‘live informational resource’ which by no means are ‘commands or instructions’ to players and the captain on the field and that all the decisions are taken on the field only and not inside the dressing room. England have swept the three-match T20 series against South Africa and are the contenders to win the ODI series starting December 04 as well. The hosts have a lot of questions to answer and they will find it really tough to turn things around against this England white-ball side which does not allow slip-ups.