England Playing 11 vs South Africa – ICC World Cup 2023, Match 20

England takes on South Africa in match 20 of the ICC World Cup 2023 on Saturday, in Mumbai. The match starts at 2 pm IST with England looking to come back to winning ways after a shocking defeat against Afghanistan.

England were bowled out for 215 in the last game chasing 285 for victory against Afghanistan. It was a shocking defeat for the world champions who came second in front of the Afghanistan bowling attack.

The defeat was a big setback for the defending champions and they are looking to make a great comeback. There are reports of Ben Stokes being fit and available for selection for this game. A hip injury kept him out of the first three games with England losing two of them. They should also look to bring back Moeen Ali who has been benched since the campaign opener against New Zealand.

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England have played seven World Cup games against South Africa winning four and losing three. Changes are likely in their playing XI and in this article, we predict their XI against South Africa.

England Playing 11 vs South Africa – ICC World Cup 2023, Match 20

Jonny Bairstow

Bairstow will open the batting. He scored just two of four balls against Afghanistan. He has not yet played a big knock in this World Cup so far and his team needs one from him against South Africa.

Dawid Malan

Malan will open the batting with Bairstow. He has already scored a century in this World Cup. He scored 140 against Bangladesh and since then has gone cold. against Afghanistan, he scored 32 and his wicket started the slide for his side.

Joe Root

Joe Root will bat at number three. He scored 77 against England and 82 against Bangladesh. Against Afghanistan, he scored 11 off 17 balls. The former skipper has brought about a big change in his white-ball game in recent times.

Harry Brook

Harry Brook will slot in at four. He scored 25 off 16 balls against New Zealand and 20 off 15 balls against Bangladesh. Brook should hold onto his place after scoring 66 against Afghanistan when the rest of the batters struggled.

Ben Stokes

Stokes is available for selection. If he plays, he will bat inside the top five, He may even bat at three, and in that case Brook might drop at five. The England Test skipper missed the first three games due to a hip injury.

Jos Buttler (C/WK)

Jos Buttler will lead England and bat at six. He scored 43 off 42 balls against New Zealand and 20 off 20 balls against Bangladesh. Against Afghanistan, he scored just nine. Buttler is yet to play a big knock in this World Cup so far.

Liam Livingstone / Moeen Ali

One among Livingstone or Moeen Ali should play in the XI and bat at seven. Moeen Ali with his experience should be picked ahead of Livingstone as he will be the second specialist spin option along with Adil Rashid.

Sam Curran

Curran will bat at eight. He is one of the all-rounders in the XI. He scored 14 off 19 balls against New Zealand and picked up 1 for 37 with the ball. Against Bangladesh, he was expensive with the ball going for 47 runs in less than 8 overs. He went for 46 against Afghanistan and scored just 10.

Chris Woakes

Chris Woakes will bat at nine. He was expensive with the ball against New Zealand going for 45 runs in just six overs. Against Bangladesh, he picked up two for 49 and scored 14 off 11. Against Bangladesh, he went wicketless and scored just nine with the bat.

Adil Rashid

Rashid will slot in at 10. He is the specialist leg spinner in the XI. He was expensive as well with the ball going for 47 runs against the Kiwis. The leggie picked 1 for 42 against the Tigers. Against Afghanistan, he took 3 for 42. He is amongst the premier leg spinners in world cricket.

Mark Wood

Wood concludes the likely playing XI for England. He has by far been the fastest pacer in this World Cup so far. He went for 55 in just five overs against the Kiwis. He picked up 1 for 29 against Bangladesh. He picked 2/50 against Afghanistan.

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