Teams Status
England
England are in an annoyingly secure position ahead of the final round of matches in Group 1. On one hand, they have been supremely flawless and literally crushed every team they’ve faced.
But on the other hand, despite winning all four of their matches, their place in the semi-finals is not completely guaranteed and there still is a mathematical door open that could see them exit the tournament, however unlikely it may seem.
The undoubted star of their campaign has been Jos Buttler, who has scored a staggering 214 runs in the tournament, 101 of which came in the last match against Sri Lanka.
Eoin Morgan’s men appear to form the best unit in the tournament, even better than the impressive Pakistan in the other group.
South Africa
South Africa have had a reasonably decent campaign so far but it could get even better if they best England, and the West Indies down Australia in the other fixture.
Since this is the late fixture of the day, and the other fixture would have ended by the time this one begins, the Proteas would know what their strategy would be depending on the other result.
In case, the Windies beat Australia, all South Africa would need to do is beat England and they’d be through. But if the Aussies win and improve their tally to eight points, then the Africans would have to beat England by a handsome margin too.
One thing from which South Africa will draw confidence is the fact that they are riding a three-match winning streak. In fact, the only game they lost was their first game, against Australia. On the downside, this South Africa side has shown a tendency to not be able to beat the heavyweights, although they impress against sides lesser or equal in size.
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