South Africa vs England preview

Posted on | April 17, 2007 | No Comments

South Africa take on England at the Kensington Oval in a match which will effectively determine whether or not Graeme Smith’s side will stay in the World Cup or not.

South Africa have been a bit up and down, but their loss against Bangladesh has left them with a lot of work to do going into their final group eight match. They have also suffered defeats against New Zealand and Australia, and are currently on six points in the table. Victory here will seal their progress into the last four and render the other games to be a mere formality. This therefore becomes a virtual quarterfinal. Kemp and Langdevelt may make a return to the squad. It isn’t clear whether Robin Peterson will retain his spot- South Africa may or may not go with the spinning option. The batting has depended largely on Smith, Kallis and De Villiers at the top and Boucher in the middle. Kemp has had a wretched run, but England may be the team against whom he finds his form back. South Africa will also know the importance of the toss- the stats for this world cup venue will tell you that.
England know that this is a virtual quarterfinal for them. Yet, they will start as underdogs because of their form in the tournament. Their top order has strugggled time and again- with Vaughan, Joyce and Strauss not getting into any form. Bell and Pietersen have been in good nick, and it is the latter England will be banking on for this game. Pietersen was born in South Africa, but allegedly couldn’t get to play because of the racial system and he generally plays very well against the country of his birth.England’s victories in this tournament have come against Kenya, Canada, Bangladesh and Ireland- not a very nice fact to read if you are an English supporter. England have played on this ground once, while their opponents haven’t. That is another thing in their favour

Tough one to predict. If Pietersen fires, South Africa can think of boarding the next flight home. The Proteas start as favourites though, and I do think that they can make it. Smith, Kallis, Pietersen, Pollock and Kemp the key men

Related posts:

1. England vs South Africa World Cup 2011 Betting preview
2. India vs South Africa betting preview- World Cup 2011
3. South Africa vs New Zealand
4. South Africa vs Bangladesh preview
5. World Cup Preview: A Look at South Africa

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