ODI World Cup England vs South Africa match preview: Playing XI, weather forecast, pitch report and more

England, S Africa were beaten by Afghanistan, the Netherlands in the previous matches

Team: England vs South Africa

Venue: Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

Time: October 21 at 2pm

England and South Africa, victims of the two major upsets in the ongoing ODI World Cup 2023, will clash at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium on Saturday at 2pm. England were beaten by the 'minnows' Afghanistan by 69 runs on October 15 while the Proteas were crushed by the Netherlands in a 38-run victory.

South Africa are placed third in the points table after defeating Sri Lanka and Australia before losing to the Dutch. 2019 champions England are ranked sixth after losing to New Zealand by nine wickets and the recent Afghanistan fiasco. The English thrashed Bangladesh in a 137-run win in their second match.

Previous World Cup clashes

England and South Africa have locked horns with each other seven times in the ODI World Cup tournaments. The English won four times while the Proteas claimed victory thrice.

Overall, in ODI, the two teams clashed in 69 games, with South Africa winning 33 matches and England tasting victory 30 times. One match was a draw while five matches had no result. The Proteas defeated the English in three of the previous five matches.

Weather forecast

The weather in Mumbai is predicted to be hazy and warm with a temperature of 37°C in the afternoon when the match begins, according to AccuWeather.com. The humidity is expected to be around 46 per cent with little chance of raining. Evening is predicted to be partly cloudy and warm with a temperature of 30°C.

Pitch report

Saturday's England vs South Africa clash will the first match of this year's ODI World Cup to be played at the iconic Wankhede Stadium. Historically offering advantage to the batters with short boundaries, we can expect some high scores on Saturday. Teams winning the toss at the stadium usually opt to field first. The official pitch report will be released before the toss.

Teams

Ben Stokes, who helped England take home the World Cup trophy in 2019, missed the first three matches due to a hip injury scare. He is likely to be cleared for the clash against South Africa on Saturday but we have to wait and watch.

England Playing XI (probable): Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler (captain and wicketkeeper), Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood and Reece Topley.

South Africa Playing XI (probable): Quinton de Kock (wicketkeeper), Temba Bavuma (captain), Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi and Gerald Coetzee