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T20 World Cup: What has to go right for the Proteas to beat England
The South Africans will hope Quinton de Kock comes off and that they win the toss and bowl first.
The Proteas will hope that key batsman Quinton de Kock comes off against England on Saturday. Picture: Isuru Sameera Peiris/Gallo Images
South Africa are looking to beat England for the first time in six outings on Saturday for a possible semi-final place in the T20 World Cup.
A lot has to go right for the Proteas to upset the form book and win against the undisputed tournament favourites.
Here The Citizen lists four occurrences that will probably need to happen for Temba Bavuma’s spirited team to prevail.
Quinton de Kock to fire
It’s been a rough tournament for the wicketkeeper/batsman. His bizarre dismissal against Australia was followed by his equally baffling decision not to take a knee and rather withdraw from the match against the West Indies. He has not passed 50 in any T20 match in eight innings, but he looks in form.
De Kock is due and he is undoubtedly a potential match-winner for South Africa.
Heavy dew after winning the toss & bowling first
Sharjah is known for its dew and it would be a marvellous early Christmas present for Bavuma if he could win the toss and elect to bat second.
No-one would suggest England’s impressive attack are ill-equipped to handle a damp ball, but if South Africa can set themselves up to chase 140-150, and De Kock gets going, it would give the Proteas serious hope.
A pitch that is really tough for batting
England like to play aggressive T20 cricket, setting matches up with their dashing batsmen going hard from the outset. But if the pitch is a bit of a snakepit, say like the one the Dutch were bowled out for 44 on less than a month ago at Sharjah, then it could take them out of their comfort zone.
They adapted brilliantly against Sri Lanka at the start of the week, but what if the pitch is even tougher and Jos Buttler fails? South Africa have the spinners to hound them in the middle overs.
Fired up new-ball bursts
Kagiso Rabada was superb in the win over Bangladesh and Anrich Nortje is enjoying a magnificent World Cup.
But if something can get them really cross before the England innings and they come out really firing, England could lose a couple of wickets in the powerplay to their sheer pace.
